Brothers & Sisters

photo: Holly Lawrence

With summer comes more together time for kids, even my 3 busy teens. I get to see the (mostly) good and (occasional) bad & ugly of this on a daily basis, but one thing that strikes me is how seeing sibling closeness in action becomes even more powerful and gratifying as they--and I-- get older and they inch ever closer to independent adult life. Because we can't live forever, knowing our kids will be there for each other is at the top of a parent's wish list, or at least mine. Some of this is out of our control (see that "independent life" part), but the basic patterns of caring for each other can be nurtured in sibs, starting very young. Here's a nice post from vlogger/social media consultant Danielle Smith on how she uses one key question to nudge her kids into respecting, protecting & encouraging each other: "Am I being kind?"

Deja-Vu Hero

image: CBS

First Reese Ronceray, now Logan Hearn -- heroes under 10 who saved even younger kids from drowning.

Two-year-old Brendan Hearn might have died last month in his family's pool without the quick response of Logan, his 9-year-old brother. Mom Tabitha called 911 and started CPR, but Logan (who apparently had taken lifeguard lessons) felt she was doing it wrong and "kind of told me just to move out of the way," said Tabitha. He continued CPR "like it should be done," she said, "and it was working!"

"To have that compusure...that patience, you know, is just amazing at that age," added dad Brent Hearn in an "Early Show" interview. Amen!

Birth Day

Talk about kids helping kids! Check out this story about the Sanders family from San Francisco. Jabari, 9, and his 11-year-old sister Faith brought their baby brother into the world when mom unexpectedly went into labor. Moral of the story (besides keeping a towel & string handy when you're expecting!): Stay calm under pressure. And be ready for anything.

(Sanders family photo: Anda Chu, AP/Bay Area News Group)

Sibling Support

Over the past couple weeks I've been interviewing moms and dads on behalf of a local startup organization aimed at helping parents connect. Several have mentioned putting a priority on helping build relationships & support between their kids, which I just love.

One family has scaled down extracurricular activities to allow their kids enough time in the yard together. Aware that she and her husband won't always be around, this mom knows how important it is to give the sibs time now to bond, have fun, and learn to share and negotiate with one another--so that later on, if times get tough they'll have a foundation for mutual support.

Another mom re-entered full-time work last year and has four kids at home. The transition has pushed her to insist they help each other with things like homework, even implementing a policy whereby she won't assist unless they've tried more than once on their own, while she's at work, and asked a sibling for help. Depending on the kids' ages and personalities, this could be tricky, but I love the idea of making sibling support a standard operating procedure for homework.

A third parent talked about how the youngest kid in a family is often dragged around to older siblings' sports games and events, then when it's his/her turn on the field, nobody shows. In their family, the expectation is that the boys will attend as many of their brothers' events as possible. This was inspiring to me, as getting our 2 less sporty kids to their brother's ballgames has been a challenge. Something to work on.

(photo: parents.com)