So, I am taking a 3 week Play Therapy grad course right now and I had to share this story. I had to borrow a kit from my professor because one of my friends in class is going to be working with my step son and I am actually going to be working with his sister. Mom and I area actually pretty good friends so she will be bringing her by tomorrow when she comes to pick him up for the weekend. I'm so excited!! But I am not allowed to use his toys since both children are already familiar with what he has and play with them all the time. The toys need to be a "brand new" to the child, special to the play room, experience. Since there are only 2 kits for the class to have to share and coordinate using, I decided I might as well put together a third kit for other people in my class to use with the kiddos they are practicing with. I am very proud of the kit I created, btw
My professor was pretty impressed too and called it "The Deluxe Kit" since it was so well stocked. Anyway.... I went and got some of my old dolls (Barbie and baby) last night to put in it because I only really have boy or gender neutral toys in our house and felt like it needed "girl" toys. There were some things left over that did not fit in the case and I had left them out in a big shopping bag. When my step son saw them this morning he gravitated right to the life-sized baby doll and instantly started holding it as if it were real. It had a pacifier in its mouth that he kept taking out and putting back in and he told me he had to practice for his little sister. He also went for a little baby doll that went with the Barbies (It was a Quint doll if anyone remembers those) and put he it in a little cradle and started rocking it back and forth and sang a lullaby. It was so sweet and I almost cried because it made me so emotional and happy. He's going to be such a great big brother!!!!
This is especially amazing to me because he is 7 and already has a little sister from his mom and wanted a brother. He was only 3 1/2 when his little sister was born so he had a lot of adjustment issues and resentments that developed and he still hasn't gotten over them completely. I've actually been working on it with him in addition to what his mom does to help him feel special. But those issues actually made him adamant that his father and I had to only have boys because he REALLY didn't want another sister..... "EVER" as he put it. You know how kids are. The fact that he is embracing this baby the way he is, despite it being another girl, means SO much to me. I love seeing how much he has grown and how willing he is to be my little helper. He talks to the baby in my belly every day. It's just so heartwarming. Obviously he has gotten over caring if it's a boy or a girl now and is just excited to meet her. She is scheduled to be born via c-section for medical reasons on Dec 22nd, this year's Winter Solstice. We celebrate that as a holiday in our house and he keeps talking about it saying that she is going to be the best Solstice present he will ever get. He has also started being nicer to his sister when he is at his mom's. I am so happy to see him growing like this!
My professor was pretty impressed too and called it "The Deluxe Kit" since it was so well stocked. Anyway.... I went and got some of my old dolls (Barbie and baby) last night to put in it because I only really have boy or gender neutral toys in our house and felt like it needed "girl" toys. There were some things left over that did not fit in the case and I had left them out in a big shopping bag. When my step son saw them this morning he gravitated right to the life-sized baby doll and instantly started holding it as if it were real. It had a pacifier in its mouth that he kept taking out and putting back in and he told me he had to practice for his little sister. He also went for a little baby doll that went with the Barbies (It was a Quint doll if anyone remembers those) and put he it in a little cradle and started rocking it back and forth and sang a lullaby. It was so sweet and I almost cried because it made me so emotional and happy. He's going to be such a great big brother!!!! This is especially amazing to me because he is 7 and already has a little sister from his mom and wanted a brother. He was only 3 1/2 when his little sister was born so he had a lot of adjustment issues and resentments that developed and he still hasn't gotten over them completely. I've actually been working on it with him in addition to what his mom does to help him feel special. But those issues actually made him adamant that his father and I had to only have boys because he REALLY didn't want another sister..... "EVER" as he put it. You know how kids are. The fact that he is embracing this baby the way he is, despite it being another girl, means SO much to me. I love seeing how much he has grown and how willing he is to be my little helper. He talks to the baby in my belly every day. It's just so heartwarming. Obviously he has gotten over caring if it's a boy or a girl now and is just excited to meet her. She is scheduled to be born via c-section for medical reasons on Dec 22nd, this year's Winter Solstice. We celebrate that as a holiday in our house and he keeps talking about it saying that she is going to be the best Solstice present he will ever get. He has also started being nicer to his sister when he is at his mom's. I am so happy to see him growing like this!
