Growing up I would always look at my aunt and say I wanted to be like her. She was not only a good mom, but she managed to keep our relationship after my little cousin was born. I never felt jealous or ignored. And I always wanted to be that type of mom and aunt.
My SIL is currently pregnant and while I’m trying to control my excitement and tone it down, I am also trying to get my son ready, not only for a little cousin, but for there to be a baby in the family. There have been several times that I’ve been holding a baby and Wesley will absolutely lose his mind. He will cry until I put them down.
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Here are a few of the things we have started doing to prepare him:
1) Making sure we talk about the baby in front of him
We make sure to include him in conversations where we are talking about the baby shower or whatever it may be.
2) Having him help pick out gifts
When we go to the store and he notices things in the infant section of the store we ask him if he wants to get it for the baby. Or we ask him what does he thing he’d like. There was even a point when we were at Old Navy and saw the family matching sets and when he was pointing to the baby shirts we asked if he would want to get one for him and they baby.
3) Reading books with babies in them.
As we go through books and if there is a baby in it we make sure to point them out and ask engaging questions for Wesley.
4) Asking what does he want to do with the baby.
My in-law’s have a playroom in their house and when Wesley is in there and pulls out an older infant toy that he used to play with when he was younger we ask if he is going to share with the baby. Even if he is playing with a newer toy we ask if he will share with the baby or other ways to bring him into the conversation in regards to the toys.
We know they won’t be around each other 24/7. My SIL has her husband’s family to consider as well, but I don’t want Wesley to lose out on spending time with his cousin because of his apprehension towards babies. My two little cousins are 10 and 11 years apart from me, respectively, and I absolutely love them. I broke up with people in high school who didn’t want to be around them or do things with us. I’m elated that Wesley gets to have cousins closer in age to him and can’t wait for the holidays this year.
