Siblings That Play Together, Stay Together

Afternoon silence can mean only one thing in my house.

Did you think it was both my children napping? Please pass that crack pipe you're smoking.

It means trouble.

Now my daughter is definitely past the fingerpaint the in-laws' walls with pen ink phase. But Drew, on the other hand, is a little holy terror.

Thankfully, he usually waits until I'm about to grab him before actually engaging in anything too destructive. Like the fine art of toilet splashing -- made better with the presence of gobs of now soaking wet toilet paper, and on special days, urine.

So, last Thursday afternoon when the children where nowhere to be found and an odd silence took over my gigantic base house I was worried.

But wouldn't you know that for the first time ever, the two little siblings were playing.

Together.

Now granted my daughter was using him as a live and extremely mobile dress-up doll. And Drew had taken every single article of clothing out of her drawers and placed it in a Jackson Pollack-esque pile on her floor.

But they were together, in the room without screaming, biting, or pulling of any extremely valuable hair (we're baldies, after all) for a good solid 20 minutes. And they were almost totally entertained by each other's presence. Well that and the 4000 blocks that had seemingly made their way completely under the bed. 

And it gave me a glimpse of one of the reasons why I did this whole "we're having another one" thing in the first place.

You know. So my daughter would have someone else to force into dress-up clothes and leave me in peace.   

Comments

[Erin Brown]

I am one of those mommies of a singleton (for now). I am so tired of trying to entertain my child and feeling guilty when I ask him to "just go play in your room so I can get this done". However this weekend my sitter offered to watch him for the entire weekend for us. Let me tell you what, before having him I always knew what to do with my time, now my hubby and I had no clue what to do this weekend. Silence can be golden, however in my case it's lonely!

[Fairly Odd Mother]

Yes, my two oldest are upstairs on the computer where I hope they haven't discovered porn or drunk photos of mommy. But, it is so nice when they team up to play together----I know that many don't understand how I can handle three; I feel the same awe over parents of one.

[Stacey]

Ah, I loved moments like that (rare as they were)! In my case, it seemed to happen more often as they got older.

[b]

OMG, best day of my life when the two older girls actually kept each other entertained for an hour the first time. I was pregnant with #3 and sick as a dog. They played and played, and my oldest came to me on the couch and said, "Mommy, I don't need to play with you anymore because my sister is fun now."

[submommy]

Laughing hysterically at each other & with each other in the car is a beautiful thing, too. K. cracks R. up.

And the fingerpaint on the wall? Classic. Like the time I was at work and K. took a Sharpie to the couch while DH was cooking dinner. (at least he was cooking dinner.)

[Jozet at Halushki]

It's wonderful, isn't it?

Just wait until you hear them say "I wuv you" to each other...and when they don't know you're listening.

Heart. Melt.

[Christina]

I'm sure mine will get to that quiet stage, too. Right now, I can tell when they're playing together, because the only game Cordy plays with her little sister is the "lets shriek at each other and giggle hysterically" game. Pretty easy to spot that one.

[MommyTime]

"Now you are all ready to flutter," he said to her, as I came around the corner and found he'd dressed her in her fairy wings. Very sweet.

Of course, at other points, I have to pull them apart because they both only want ONE toy and it is that one toy, that stupid little small broken red truck toy that no one likes, except when someone else wants it. And that's what it's like to have a 4 yr old and a near 2 yr old in my house.

It sounds like your house is moving there too. Enjoy! Seriously. The moments of love do actually make the moments of arbitration totally worth it.

[jen]

this will be the singular regret of only having one, for me.

[Mia Childs]

Its lovely when they reach that point :)
'Pairs' often works very well :)

[BOSSY]

Yeah, you have to birth those children one-hundred-and-fifty years apart, like Bossy did.

[Redneck Mommy]

The only thing keeping me sane right now in this cold snap is that I don't have to entertain my kids...they have bonded together and joined forces to drive me crazy.

Oh well.

Beats having to actually, you know, play with them...

[motherofbun]

Ah yes, the silence.

Kind of funny you posted about this. We don't have a second child. So we have tons of playdates. That way the boy can play Star Wars (for the umpteenth time) with someone who actually wants to me (meaning, NO ME!)\

And... What IS it with little boys and toilets?

[Lil' Viking]

Mine are very similar in age to yours, 3 year old girl, son just turned 1 and it is the coolest thing! I went to check on them the other day and the lil' munchkin had dressed Bear in Mickey Mouse ears and a feather boa :) Of course, I had to snap the picture - so do you think in another 10 years he'll be more mad at her for doing that to him, or me for taking the picture :)

[mrs mogul]

This is why I want another one. So one can occupy the other!

[Cheryl]

That silence terrified me the first time it occurred. Now, although I still check to make sure no one is sticking peas in the cats' ears or other such creative activities, it warms my heart to watch my sons interact.

[Asha {Parent Hacks}]

And this is only the beginning! Whatever ups and downs lie ahead, your kids will always have each other. (I'm an almost 40 year-old only child, so I think about that stuff.)

[Phoenix]

My brother is two years younger than me. We've almost always been great friends. Now at around 8 he became a royal pain, but until then and again after about 14 we got along great.

[mothergoosemouse]

It's wonderful, isn't it? I actually prefer to have both Tacy and CJ at home together for that very reason.

[Luann]

I want another! I don't WANT to "come on". I don't WANT to play with play doh! Can you find me one?

[the new girl]

aw, cuuute.

I can't wait until WE can be playmates again.

Heh. That oughta up your googleperv traffic...

[mandy]

Delurking here to say I love the blog and your sense of humour.

Personally, I can't wait for the playing together phase... no more endless games of truck/bus/train/fishing for this mommy.

[Stimey]

When all three of my kids are home, I don't have to play with them if I don't want to because they play with each other. They do regularly try to murder each other though also. But I'm still glad they have built-in playmates.

[Manic Mommy]

And the heavens opened and the angels sang. It is wonderful albeit shortlived.

I'll even take the messy aftermath just to have that peace.

[Michelle]

Those times are so sweet. That sibling bond is amazing, and even though they will be screaming at each other stuff like, "You stupid butthole!" in the future, it seems to melt away when you see them play dress-up together.

Of course, in our house, quiet time also means that it's 2 against 1 for a "pretend surgery" where I will later see one of my chirrens turned blood red from being scribbled on with a red PERMANENT MARKER.

Pack them all up--those markers. Kids always find them, no matter how well they're hidden. It's so much fun to "color the baby".

[MBooth]

isn't it the greatest? I always feel bad for my friends with singletons - without other kids YOU are the plaything!

[amanda]

yeah for dress-up little brother style! congrats and here's hoping for many more days filled w/ silence :)

[kyra]

oh! i love that! how sweet and miraculous! i know it will happen many many MANY more times in the years to come.

[Heather]

This is funny to me because I just wrote something similar!

Yes, enjoy the playing together while it lasts.

[tracey]

Yay! Thank God for playing together. I no longer fear the silence in the house. I just try to enjoy it while it lasts.

And that pen picture? Before I came to your site, and I am SO GLAD you linked back to it. And the fact that it wasn't even YOUR wall and floor? Classic...

[Karly]

Isn't it lovely when they finally leave you alone and bother each other instead? Just wait...it gets better and better. I'm sure at some point my kids will reach the phase where they hate each other, but I'm praying it doesn't happen for a looooong time.

[ali]

my guys are a little too young to actually play, but they really enjoy each others company, the big guy brings the baby toys, the baby coo's and laughs for his brother like noone else. i hope they are friends when they are older!