Sharing "squares"

School begins again in the morning for my little A.  He is so excited for his 4 year old, Jr. Kindergarten class at HAMC as this is his 2nd year there and he certainly knows the ropes.  One of the best parts about this year is that A and E will be in school together.  He is such an amazing big brother to her, every day I am more and more impressed with how he is patient with her (for a 4 yr old of course), shares his snacks and toys (the oh so important things again to a 4 yr old) and loves teaching her.  That makes this Mommy melt!  Just yesterday while visiting my Dad's house we made a peanut butter sandwich for E when she woke up hungry from her nap shortly after A awoke from his slumber and joined us.  He told me he was hungry and without any prompting at all, E (my 2 yr old) handed over one of her "squares".  Seconds later he said he was still hungry and no joke without hesitation again she handed him another "square" of her sandwich.  At this point he was satisfied, thank you's were exchanged and I was "kvelling" as only a Jewish mommy could do.  The best part about this exchange however was a day later when the reverse occurred and it was my sweet, but always hungry E who needed some nourishment and A remembered what she did for him the day before (thanks to the small help of Uncle J) and immediately gave her some of his bagel. 

It will be a huge treat for him to walk E in to her classroom on her first day, alas that will have to be next week, because this week there is only school on Tuesday due to the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. 

Tonight we tried so hard to remember what it was like before Summer and hoped to create that earlier evening feeling of dinner, bath, a few special stories, some songs and of course bed!  It wasn't that easy, they were both so over tired from the exciting weekend, probably a bit overwhelmed about pulling out the "lightning mcqueen" backpack and lunch box as well as discussing what would be worn tomorrow on that oh so special first day.  But, the biggest reason why getting to bed tonight was so emotionally draining for my adorable A was because he wanted nothing more than to have his sister sleep in the trundle bed below him.  Not sure where or when this developed? Did they discuss this during bath time in their own secret language? Was there planning that happened during dinner and D and I were just aloof to it? Not quite sure, but none the less they both said they "needed" each other and you betcha my heartstrings were tugged and pulled in a few different directions! 

Obviously given that she is only 2 we can't trust her yet to have a sleepover, granted she would only be in the next room over and on a trundle really close to the floor, but even my beautiful klutzy darling of a daughter would find a way to get injured!  As well, we explained to A over and over again as his big blue eyes welled up with tears, that this was the night before his first day of school and getting plenty of rest was so important for him to have enough energy for school to play, learn, etc. This was a hard scenario, but ultimately we saw that he really truly loves her, as if we didn't already know this.  I did have to stay in his room for an extra back rub and story, but he finally went to sleep and of course asked if the next night she could sleep in his room.  Not sure if this was the best answer (we will see tomorrow) but I said, "Yes!" because afterall they don't have school, since it is the night before Rosh Hashanah, so why not?  Let's try it...