The Moment They Saw You
Posted January 20th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
While we’re on the subject of siblings and whether they are 1) terribly pointless, or 2) the most important gift you can EVER give your child (because those are the only two options, you know), let’s talk about the wonderful, magical moment when you introduce existing children to their new sibling. And how wonderful and magical it is.
Wait. No. I meant the opposite of that.
This is the photo I used — after cropping and tweaking and edge-blurring and etc. — to commemorate the moment when my three boys came together for the first time:
Gorgeous, right? The perfect mix of curiosity, suspicion and tenderness. Also, the baby appears to be in no danger of getting dropped or sat on and is not crying.
In other words, what a load of crap.
A few seconds later, after Noah’s hand actually made contact with Ike’s head and startled the bejezus out of him, Ike let out a howl. Noah fled to the opposite side of the room and refused to go near the baby again. And Ezra was like, “Yeah, I’m out too. YOU deal with this.”
I just can’t even right now, you guys.
They spent the next 45 minutes or so jumping off the hospital room’s furniture and windowsills, screeching and squawking like Angry Birds while I stayed in bed, grinning stupidly and basking in the chaos of my new-and-improved life.
By the time I saw them again, my post-c-section IV had been removed so I was no longer under the influence of the kickass painkillers.
This is what happened next. (And…a lot of times after that. Up to and including THIS MORNING, ACTUALLY.)
Back to: Amy Corbett Storch
3 Comments
Gretchen commented on Jan 20 12 at 2:52 pmWhen I had my 4th baby, my husband brought the 3 older kids to the hospital to meet him. It was lunch time, so they came with Happy Meals. I was nursing our newbie as they began to eat. When I was done, I presented their new brother to them, expecting a happy, gooey response. Our 3rd, who was only 17 months at the time, chucked a french fry at the baby, hitting him squarely on his face. They love that story now.
Mona commented on Jan 22 12 at 8:10 pmOne of the best gifts one mother can give to another is the assurance that the crap their little angels are pulling is- well, if not normal, certainly not unprecedented. I love this post- I have a 3.5 year old boy and a 3 month old new boy- and I believe the oldest must now think his name is “Nick not so close to his face don’t touch shhhhh inside voice around the baby.” He loves the baby SO much… And yet must also think him the potential perfect subject for many experiments in physics. Thank you for letting me feel like that’s probably sorta normal and prison visits are not in our future.
Cassandra Barry commented on Mar 02 12 at 4:17 pmVery funny. Yeah, I always get to see that ONE “perfect” pic from mom friends of their toddler carefully cradling the newborn. Nice to see what’s really going on behind the scenes…
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