Things Kids Say

This is a post from the SIDS Discussion List on things that siblings say.

by Nancy Eckert

reprinted with permission

Dear Tina,

I agree with you about how things can come out of nowhere from children's
mouths that really can put you in a tailspin. My second child, Noah, was 5
when his brother Cory died. We had really prepared him for not being the
baby in the family anymore and stressed to him the importance of being a "big
brother". We told him he would have someone looking up to him and that as a
big brother, he would be teaching his younger sibling how to do things.
About six months after Cory died, out of the blue, Noah had a puzzled look
on his face. When I asked him what he was thinking, he said, "Well....I was
just wondering who was going to teach Cory how to ride a bike in Heaven".
Yes, it took me about three days to recover from that one!

Though Noah was only five, he has a sweet memory of Cory that always tears at
my heart a little: Cory was sitting in his little infant seat one day and
the window blinds were partially open, casting stripes of light and shadow on
him. Noah remembers laughing at the effect, saying Cory looked like a zebra!
I love it that his memories are all sweet and lovely like that about his
baby brother...

7/27/96