first best friends

Jack is rough with Lila…rough with her like she’s one of his buddies on the playground. This is equally frustrating and endearing.
We tell him repeatedly that “she’s a girl”, “she’s smaller”, “she’s not as strong as he is”…but it doesn’t resonate with him because he doesn’t see her as smaller, weaker, different…he sees his best friend who he wants to wrestle with because to him, that’s about the most fun thing to do and he wants to do that with her.
Frustrating. Endearing.

I see her run up to him with open arms, begging to be picked up and hugged…Jack obliges, only to release her to fall down into the grass. And before I can yell, she bounces up and continues to chase him around and around. I’ve never met a little girl tougher: she’s had her fair share of bumps and bruises (see: glass stuck in her hand!), and she rarely complains.

I know their relationship will teach Jack to treat girls kindly and equally (like he would his sister, once he realizes that you can’t wrestle with her so hard).

I know their relationship will teach Lila to hold her own with the boys, and to push back and be strong, and to know that she can always call on him and he will be there to protect her.

I know their relationship will remind me that they are one another’s first best friends. That at the end of the day, it’s them against the world. I LOVE that they will have each other to rely on for the rest of their lives. That bond they share is so important to me… Be good to each other, Jack and Lila…