Brothers

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero."
--Marc Brown




Charlie is blessed to have a loving brother to help him grow up. Parents can provide guidance and instruction to a son, but there is something special about having a brother who can help him learn "street smarts" and show him how boys operate in the world.

Tripp would love to teach Charlie how to tackle, but for now he is contenting himself with helping Charlie learn the basics of crawling, and catch, and how to scream loudly. This last one is not part of the approved curriculum, but somehow keeps sneaking into the lessons anyway.

I still remember Christmas morning 2007, when we opened the envelope from the nurses that told us whether the baby we were expecting would be a boy or a girl. When Tripp announced "It's a boy," Sophie and Molly both threw their arms in the air and cheered for Tripp. The value of sisters is a topic for another time, but how sweet it was for the girls to recognize how vital it would be for Tripp to have the pleasure of a brother.

Charlie is lucky to have a good example of how to act as a boy, and Tripp is lucky to have a baby brother to bring out his softer, caring side. They are both better because of the other--isn't that what brothers are for?