Share - 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writing

Written on 05 October 2018.

Trains. The current favorite toy of both Charlotte and Isaac. In truth though, the favorite toy for each of them happens to be whatever toy the other one is playing with at the moment. Trains just happen to be the dominant toy of choice these days.

Walk into our house any day and you’ll be greeted by trains, blocks, and tracks. The train table, their rightful home, tends to be the last place you’ll find any trains. A long line of trains sits perched on top of our piano bar. Blocks surround them making bridges and roads. Our bookshelves consist of photos and books pushed bak to make room for another line of trains. “What are the trains doing up there, Charlotte?”

“Shhh,” she says.

The book shelves make the perfect spot for sleeping trains.

Stick your hand in a purse or diaper bag and you’ll probably pull out a train or two. The other day a package arrived. I emptied the contents on the table leaving the paper and packing for the kids to use as toys. The next day I dumped the box to find blocks and trains.

In our bedroom. On the bathroom sink. In the kitchen cupboards. Trains everywhere.

When my daughter’s playing with them they keep getting higher and higher. Away from the grasping hands of her brother. She loves her brother, but not enough to share her trains. He’s getting taller everyday and braver, too, in reaching for the trains wherever they may be.

They may not share their trains, but I see them sharing love in so many beautiful and heartfelt ways.

Charlotte will be the first to hear her brother waking up from a nap and she’ll immediately say, “Bubba, up.” Running to his room she can’t get to him fast enough. When he falls and cries or can’t be consoled she’ll say, “Bubba, okay?” We snuffed his nose the other night to his screams and flailing arms. Charlotte stood by his side, “Bubba, okay.”

There is no shortage of love they share for each other.

The preschool pick-up twice a week involves standing with the other parents and siblings. The preschoolers line up and walk down the hall with their teacher. As soon as Isaac spots Charlotte he cheers and points in delight. Anytime Charlotte is in her room (for time out or quiet time) he manages to sneak down the hall and find his sister. At bedtime they chase each other around the rocking chair. At meal time Charlotte wants to feed her brother. “I eat Bubba,” translates to I want to feed Bubba.

These two, brother and sister, belong to each other. Created from the same love. Known so deeply. They have the gift of living life together. Of hearing their laughter and screams. Of consoling one another. Of reading stories together. Of greeting and ending the day together.

Give them a toy and they’ll be short-pressed to share with the other one. But give them this life to live together and there’s no shortage of their love shared.

**All month I'll be participating in 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes. Each day I'll take some time (sometimes 5 minutes and sometimes a little more) to sit down and write. It's about the discipline of writing each day. It's about listening to the words from within. It's about letting creativity work in me. I'll share my writing at some point during the day on my blog. Thanks for reading.