When You Give a 3 Year-Old a Sibling

When you give a 3 year-old a sibling.....

She will periodically stop what she is doing, cover her mouth, run straight for the bathroom and then spit into the toilet for at least 5 minutes

You will tell her that you are so sorry she is feeling sick, but that she should probably refrain from doing this when grandma watches her tomorrow (as you have not told grandma that your pregnant yet)

She will do it while grandma is watching her anyway.

After you spend an hour cooking dinner......

She will loudly state, "I cannot eat this! The smell makes me feel sick". Then she will run into the bathroom to spit into the toilet again.

Then you will decide that the time has come to tell your 3 year-old that there is a "baby in mommy's tummy".

She will smile and immediately lift up your shirt to check for "that baby in there".

Then she will ask you every question she can think of,  including:

• What does "that baby" do when you go to work? Does it work too?
• But how does "that baby" eat food?
• But how do toys get into your tummy for "that baby" to play with?
• Does "that baby" fall out of your tummy when you change into your jammies?

Then she will ask you who put the baby in your tummy.

You will tell her that you and daddy asked God to put a baby in your tummy. 

That will remind her that she needs to call daddy right away. 

She will take your cell phone, click onto favorites and hit the number to call your husband.

She will practically shout to your husband that she knows that Jesus put "that baby" into mommy's tummy!

When your husband comes home, you both will ask your 3 year-old if she thinks "that baby" will be a boy or a girl. 

She will tell you matter-of-factly that, "that baby will be a boy of course, because there is only 1 boy in our family".

Then you will decided that it's time to tell your daughter that at some point "that baby" will have a name. So you ask her what names she would like for the baby. 

These are the names she offers:

• Dada
• Skittles

You decide she may not be the best candidate for choosing the baby's name. 

All this talk about "that baby" will remind her that she wants to ask you if the baby can sleep in her room once it comes out. 

You tell her, that maybe eventually the baby can, but at first it will cry a lot.... so it will need to sleep in mama and dada's room. 

She will put her hands on her hips and say "Thats okay, I will just rock the baby back to sleep".

Then you will go to your husband's soccer game, where your daughter has a friend her age to play with.

You will over hear her telling her friend, "My mommy is so special because she has a baby in her tummy right now!"

You will cringe and hope that none of the other mom's/wives around have heard your daughter make this announcement, as you are still 1 week away from this news being public knowledge. 

Then you will smile because your 3 year-old is so darn excited to get a sibling!

How did you prepare your children for a new baby in the house? I'd love to hear all of your ideas!