Tough Cookie

Today I was getting Isaac's lunch ready while the kids were playing out in the backyard. I looked out the kitchen window just in time to see Isaac knock Vivian in the head with his foot as he climbed his way out of the wagon. He also banged her arm on his way out. I cringed, waiting for her to start wailing. But although her hand flew up to her head where she had been kicked and she frowned for a minute, she shook it off and continued playing without a peep.

This kind of thing happens all the time. Isaac is always stepping on her fingers or banging her with the end of his toy as he walks past, or accidentally dropping toys on her as he pulls them from the toychest. And he also has been known to not-so-accidentally smush her face into the carpet, or push her from the table she has pulled up on.

Unless she is really hurt, Vivian generally accepts these potentially harmful invasions of her personal space without complaint. Even when he snatches a toy from her fingers, she doesn't always start howling.

I can't help but wonder when she will learn to manipulate these situations, and scream bloody murder if he so much as touches her in their joint quest for the perfect toy. I'm sure that day will come, and it's kind of sad. Right now, she's so enamored of her brother that she's willing to put up with all sorts of indignities, just to have him near her. But eventually she will learn how to throw him under the bus in order to get what she wants--just like he does to her now.

For the time being I'm enjoying it. I encourage Isaac to watch what he's doing, and be careful around her, and he doesn't pay a bit of attention to me. Vivian follows him around, often getting trampled in the process, but even as he's scratching her leg, he's laughing at something she did. "Vivi's singing, Mom!"

It's a joy to watch, really.