Papa Bear and I have been trying to teach M how to be a good big brother. Now, I realize that this is probably a subjective concept as in, ask ten people what a "good" big brother is and you'll get ten different answers. For our 3 year old though, a "good" big brother is one who does not hit, pull hair, shove, bite, or otherwise manhandle his little brother. Not that M regularly practices any of the aforementioned physicallities, but it is not a far stretch to occasionally view something unpleasant transpire between the munchkins.
P.B. and I decided that in order to get M to be nicer to his little bro, we needed to get him to feel responsible for B's safety and well being. Thus, over the past few months we have been coaching and encouraging M to help B with various endeavors, asking M to keep B away from certain dangers (nothing serious) and reminding him that it is his job to take care of his little brother. Recently, it was heart warming to see M putting these lessons to work.
On Wednesday, we went to feed the ducks and geese with Ama, which is a favorite pastime of the boys. A couple of the geese were getting overly familiar with the boys...they were super close to the boys' faces like they were going to peck their eyes out if the bread didn't come forth quickly enough. I was about to step in and shoo the birds away when M started yelling at the birds to "go away". M then grabbed B's elbow and tried to pull him away from the birds. How sweet is that! Of course, I told M WHAT A GREAT BIG BROTHER he is!
A few hours later Ama and I took the boys to Heather Farm park in Walnut Creek for a picnic. After eating, the boys went to play in the sand and on some of the structures. B was sitting in a play car turning the steering wheel with Ama, Matthew and me sitting in the back...enjoying the ride. A little boy about M's age crawled into the back with the three of us and then climbed into the front seat where B was located. M followed that boy and told him to leave his brother alone; he said a lot more than that, but let's just leave it there. I suppose it should be noted that the little boy didn't talk to B, touch B or in any way harm B. However, Big Brother M decided that it was his job to make sure that should this boy decide to try anything nefarious towards his brother, that BBM would be on the job. At least it was well intentioned and our job's done...B will be well cared for should we need M to take over. That's legal...right?
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