Norming

I just want to say again how grateful I am to my ten year old daughter. I love so much how she treats her little sister like she’s just any other typical, and yes, annoying little sister.

This morning, Tom told both A and O to go upstairs to the linen closet and bring down five rolls of toilet paper for the half-bath. We have a small cabinet thingy that holds that many rolls in that room so no one ever actually runs out of toilet paper while actually on the toilet. The horrors.

Alyssa announced yesterday after coming out of the bathroom that we need to teach Olivia how to change the toilet paper roll.

Tom and I laughed.

Is there any six year old out there, typical or not, who can actually change the toilet paper roll? I mean, seriously, even a six year old with advance fine motor skills probably can’t or won’t do such a thing.

Alyssa just huffed and flounced away, disgusted with the fact that her parents ‘baby’ her sister. For the record, when Alyssa was six, she wasn’t expected to change the toilet paper roll. But she can’t be bothered to remember that. Ten year olds are so much fun.

But you know what? I love that she doesn’t baby Olivia. I love that she expects as much out of her as she expects out of Jaxon, who is a full year younger than Olivia. She treats them both with the same distain and impatience and I love it.

I’m glad for that norming effect for Olivia. I want her to grow up knowing what it’s like to have an impatient, sometimes obnoxious big sister. I want that because it’s NORMAL and I want her to experience every possible normal thing in the world.

Those therapists who said all along that Alyssa was going to be Olivia’s best teacher, best therapist, best friend were so, so right. Olivia looks to her sister for what is normal, what is cool. She mimics her sister in so many ways and I’m glad for this. So very glad that she has this chance to be normal, to be a little sister and push buttons and follow her sister around and just be a kid, away from therapies and doctors and all the babying her parents do. Even as six, Olivia’s starting to agree with her sister, parents really can cramp a girl’s style.