Sibling Love – A story about a gift

My kids fight.  It’s not uncommon, and I’m one of four children in my family so I know all about sibling fighting.  In those moments, when they are bickering, I find it difficult to understand their frustrations.  Why are you fighting about such little things? Why are you picking on each other about nothing?

When I’m not in the midst of it, I can completely understand. They are around each other the most. They spend most of their time together.

However, their bickering does not mean they don’t love each other.  I see it everyday, the way they help each other out. The way she calls him an enduring nickname, the way he is angry when he finds out someone at school hasn’t been treating her well. They want to play together and make up games together. They want to show each other when they learn something new or hug each other when excited.

For his birthday, the 8 year old received a Chapters gift card from his aunt. For a kid, gift cards are exciting. It’s the chance to pick out anything you want within a set price range.  I told him how much he had to spend and that he was welcome to get a few of the things he’d been asking me for every time we went into the store.

He instantly knew what he wanted: There had been a Minecraft stuffie (an Enderman) that he was eyeing for sometime.  I told him that would take half of his gift, and he could then buy something else.

Without hesitation, he knew what that something else would be: Another stuffie for his sister.

I told him that was very kind but assured him sharing his birthday gift was not required.  There was no doubt in his mind about it – he was buying her one too so they each had one.

I let a few days pass, and sure enough, that was still what he wanted to do.  We planned a trip to Chapters after school, and while he wanted to leave his sister with my parents so he could surprise her, it wasn’t doable and she would be coming with us. When we got to the store, he sent her and I to another aisle so he could pick out the surprise.

He showed up with two stuffies behind his back – one for each of them, and handed her the gift.

He split his entire birthday gift in half in order to share it with his sister.

My heart grew that day, knowing that even when they pick at each other, and yell and fight with each other, they truly do love one another. They are pals, friends, and they want to be that way.

Kids sometimes surprise us in the best of ways.