Sibling Bond

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the bond I see forming between my children. I have friends whose children never play together and I can't understand it. I can lose my kids to their bedrooms for hours at a time while they play “family” or “house” or legos together. This is not to say that there are not times they all do their best to annoy, irritate and otherwise drive their siblings (and Mom) nuts, but it is to say that, in my opinion, the good times outweigh the bad; if not in number of minutes, in quality. The good is really, really good and the bad is liveable.

Earlier this year when I was having a rough time homeschooling and debating sending everyone to public school I was standing at the kitchen window and saw my 5 year old son run by and his 7 year old brother and 4 year old sister run by hand-in-hand. In that instant, I knew that what I'm giving them is good. It is something special. It is something worth fighting for.

In the same way, the kids have been dying to have a “slumber party”. Said slumber party was to consist of my 4 year old daughter sleeping on her brothers' bedroom floor with her 5 year old brother. Our 7 year old has reached the age where he realized his bed was softer than the floor so he stayed put for the night, however, that was it! They didn't want popcorn and a movie. They didn't want doughnuts for breakfast or chips and boardgames to play till all hours of the night. They just wanted to sleep together in the same room! 

We obliged their request on a Friday night and they had a blast! They did the giggle-and-whisper-and-goof-around routine for a while. Our 4 year old came down after the boys had fallen asleep grinning from ear to ear telling of her joyful insomnia. We chuckled and put her back on her brothers' floor. It was a blessing to me to know that they wanted to have a slumber party together which consisted of nothing more than time together. Wouldn't we all be so blessed if that was enough for us??

As I said, this is not to say my kids get along swimmingly 24/7. We certainly have our moments! How do your children get along together? In what areas do they struggle?