Our younger two daughters (ages 4 and 2) are often all over Elsa. It can be pretty cringe-worthy. They rub her cheeks and pat her head. They hold her hand… then squeeze it way too tight. They literally hug (choke) her with love. All day. Everyday.

If they are unattended with her, things can go a bit too far. They are partially testing her – what amount of touch and pressure she will tolerate. But isn’t that what sisters and siblings do? I never want them to hurt her, but I do love that they treat Elsa as they treat one another.

Lately the girls have been really wanting to help Elsa. Dare I say we’ve “made it”? My middle daughter will take off her shoes and AFOs when she comes home from school, then rub her feet. My youngest is constantly “interpreting” what Elsa says: Elsa said ‘I’m hungry,’ she’ll exclaim with complete confidence, when Elsa hasn’t made a vocalization remotely near that. And they are both VERY concerned that their oldest sister is exposed to the same foods as they are, at dinner time, despite the fact that Elsa cannot eat orally yet.

When Elsa gets a small inexplicable bruise, I can pretty much guess where it came from – with 50 percent accuracy: Sister C or Sister L. But the smiles and hugs and protectiveness are everything my husband and I could ever have prayed, asked or dreamed for.

We are so grateful for this BIG, STRONG, BOLD and FULL sister love that they give our Elsa. All day. Everyday.

 

4 Responses to Sister Love

  1. Andria says:

    Your girls have a beautiful bond! Sisters are forever❤️

  2. Shirley says:

    You have the sweetest girls. Their present relationship is is charming and watching it develop and unfold is interesting. Thank you for keeping this site alive. I miss all the families who use to post here. What happened to them? Are they all just lazy and undisciplined like me? I promise to post regularly but then I don’t. I need to follow your example. I don’t feel as skilled as you. You take such lovely pictures. Thank you for your hard work, and for sharing with us.

  3. Liliana Gardea Varela says:

    I love to read Elsa’s stories, I have a five-year old daughter with the same syndrome and she has a sister one and a half year-old when I read Elsa’s stories I see Carolina’s situations, because exactly the same is happening to her, her sister love her and protect her too much that sometimes hurt her. We are blessed with our beautiful family we don’t see our life as perfect as is right now without our Carolina. Thanks for sharing. I will love to share pictures but I don’t know how to post it.

  4. Anitra says:

    Thank you for your comments Shirley and Liliana! I suspect that most of our families are sharing and connecting on Facebook, and because it’s so easy to do so there, that’s probably why they are choosing that forum. My background is in PR and I’ve overseen a bunch of web development projects, so using the “post” function is something that I’m familiar with. But I know it’s challenging if that’s not your area of professional expertise. About once a year, I share the link to a post I did way-back-when about “How to Post to the Website.” Following these directions will help you get the job done. To those who are able to contribute, and are patient with the process, we so appreciate hearing from you! Long-form stories are the foundation of this website and we’d love to see the tradition carry on. See below for the link to the post I mentioned. And if ever you can’t figure it out and need help, just email me at anitraschulte@gmail.com. Appreciate you all so much!!

    LINK: http://wolfhirschhorn.org/2015/11/uncategorized/post-to-the-website-a-quick-tutorial/

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