All the Makings of an Overbearing Mother . . .

Of my three older girls, Emma is by far the most attentive to her baby sister. They all love her dearly, but Emma goes above and beyond. She is always willing to do anything for and/or with her. She doesn't mind being interrupted from playtime to give Julie a bottle or get out some toys for her. She is happy to fetch baby wipes and throw away diapers. Whatever it is . . . she's willing. As a mom, it delights my heart to see her interact with her baby sister . . . most of the time. As you can imagine, when Julie started crawling and pulling up, Emma was very excited . . . but now she can't seem to know when to back off and let Julie experience life. She is constantly expressing concern that Julie is going to fall (which she does many times a day), or touch something that she shouldn't. You can regularly see her pulling Julie across the floor (out of "harm's way") or standing right behind her, ready to catch her in case she should fall. Poor little Julie is definitely feeling the frustration of having someone try to dictate her every move. And so I live my life trying to find the balance . . . understanding that Emma tends to be a rather intense child and trying to direct her love for her sister, trying to regularly bring her back to the reality that she is not Julie's boss (Emma loves having someone who she thinks she can boss!), and trying to get her to understand that babies fall, they put things in their mouths, and that not everything they touch is going to hurt them. Most of all I want her to understand that God is pleased with her love for her sister. It's a hard balance to find and makes my brain hurt, but it won't be long and this stage will be a memory!