Brother Of The Year!

Every now and then the planets align, the bickering stops, and everything is right with the world.  This week, there was an afternoon of blissful pride that needs to be shared.  In being the best big brother on the planet, my son changed my daughter's life.

About a month ago, my youngest kiddo was having yet another bout with anxiety.  She was fearful to get dropped off at her gym for team practice (she's a competitive gymnast).  The tears and angst on her face caused stress for the whole family.  Why oh why would a kid who loves gymnastics be scared of being dropped off for practice?

After a very rough day we sat down to talk about her fears.  My son was listening.  I came up with the strategy of visualizing and walking her through the drop off process while taking deep breaths and promoting calm.  My son had a better plan.

He made the deal with his little sister that if she could walk into her gym with no tears and overcome her fear for a whole month, then he would dance in front of her gymnastics coaches.  Just the suggestion of this goal made me proud of him.  The selflessness of it!  He would be helping his sister by doing something that he absolutely did not want to do. 

I'm not sure he was ready for the fact that she took him at his word and with the visualization overcame her fear.  During the month she was dropped off and picked up with a smile.  The gym became a source of immense excitement again.  Improvement in her routines followed.  Obsession with all things gymnastics continued.  Family life got easier.

Then the big day came.  My lessons on integrity shined through the cloud of my son's dread.  He is a man of his word.  We marched into that gym with proud intentions and his face red.  My daughter's face could not have carried a wider smile.  We explained the deal to the coaches and they all gathered to watch and cheer and clap.

I held in the tears of pride and joy until I was alone, but they did follow this sibling connection.  The coaches were so impressed that they were basically asking for their daughters to be betrothed to my young man.  This kid may be a genius.  Let's just hope that he uses his powers for good.

In the future, my daughter will have something to draw on when feeling a bit anxious.  Also in the future, my son will know what it feels like to do something to change someone's life.  We are winning!  This team works well when we help each other.