My Children Are Teaching Me About Love

James is one of the sweetest and most easy going toddlers I have ever had the opportunity to know. So I was pretty nervous about his little brother arriving. I had seen and heard too many times about a sibling arriving and the older one gets jealous and acts out. I didn't want to see my sweet, tenderhearted boy, turn into a jealous or aggressive child.

In preparation for Connor's arrival, I researched how to make the transition easier. I bought a Thomas the Train Pillow that would be a gift from baby Connor when James came to meet him at the hospital. I bought big brother books, and I constantly talking about Connor, and James being a big brother. I constantly talked to James about Connor's room, and Connor's things. It was as if Connor was already a part of the family, he just wasn't physically there yet.

But James is only two, so still I worried. Worried that it wouldn't be enough, worried that Connor would arrive and James would be angry or sad about this little person intruding into his life. I worried that James would act out seeing another baby getting so much of 'his' mommy's attention. My anxiety over this issue was about as high as the anxiety of being a new parent was the first time.

So you can imagine my surprise, and my joy, when James immediately accepted Connor. It was as if Connor had always been there. He looked at his baby brother, and simply goes, "It's baby Connie!"

Over the past 3 weeks, don't get me wrong we've had a few moments where James got upset or acted out a little, but it wasn't about Connor--it was about mommy. Mommy not having as much time for James has been the only thing he struggled with. Almost daily I find James looking down at his baby brother, and I hear his little voice say, "I love you baby Connie." To see James then bend his little head and kiss his brother's forehead. It's something that warms my heart and soul. I worried so much about how James would accept this new little person into his life, and here James more than accepted him--but already loves him.

He loves to help when it comes to Connor, he brings Connor binkies, he throws away diapers or grabs blankets. And when Connor is fussy, I'll find James over at the Rock N Play, rocking his brother, telling him, "It's okay, Connie, it's okay."

The capacity a child has to love, should teach everyone a little something about love. To love so unconditionally, to look down at something that intruded into your life, but to love it anyways.

Then there's Connor himself. To arrive into the world, this big, cold and noisy world, and to look into the eyes of a stranger. But those eyes aren't too strange, they're also familiar. As if he gazed into them in another life. He looks into those eyes, and he trusts that person with his life. Trusts that person to take care of him completely. That is love. Love at first sight.

My children are teaching me about love, each one in a different way. It's a beautiful experience.