This morning, I sat with Ryder in the cold car, waiting for Daley to find a book to read during the drive. Out she bounded, with her wavy hair, pink headband, and favorite light pink sweatshirt. In her hand, was a Spanish dictionary. "That's what she picked to read?" Ryder and I both smiled at the random choice, while she jumped in the car. She opened it up and excitedly explained that she wanted to learn a phrase to use at recess. After flipping through the pages, she found the perfect phrase..."Que havemas? That's what I'm going to ask my friends when we get to the playground!" Her eyes danced with excitement and pride as she prepared to dazzle her friends with her Spanish. She looked back down at her book, and Ryder asked if she wanted to read out of his Calvin and Hobbs book. Ryder has a job to do. I am paying him $1 for every book that he reads with her. He loves this responsibility, and I love that it forces them to connect. She stared at her dictionary and realized that it was not going to be very fun to read. "Ok..."
My heart beamed as the two put their heads together and peered down at the comics, Daley wrestling with the words, and Ryder so patiently waiting for her to sound them out. They laughed at the silly antics. As we pulled into the school, Ryder realized that he forgot his lunch at home. Daley pulled out her lunch, and discovered that she could put half of her sandwich in a ziplock bag with her roll, and gave him the other half. He said thanks and stuffed it into his backpack. The two jumped out of the car, talking and smiling the whole way in. I felt bad for lingering. I'm sure the cars behind me where anxious to get their kids to school, but I was really enjoying the moment, watching them walk together. The gift of siblings...sometimes its hard to live with brothers and sisters, but other times, it's nice to have someone in your life who will give you half of their sandwich.
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