A Sibling's Love

I've seen a meme floating around social media every once in a while with various pictures and the caption:

If you want to know how to treat someone with a disability just watch their siblings, they will show you.

I thought about Lucas and all the times he has shown how thoughtful and caring he can be towards Kayla. Even back when he was in preschool and early elementary school he seemed to always put her first. He frequently would pick something out of the "treasure box" for Kayla. (It goes both ways, if Kayla was at a medical appointment she would always ask to get a lollipop or sticker or toy for Lucas).

There was the time he wanted to recreate the Shoulder Buddy she lost/left at sleep-away camp.

I've blogged about the time we were at a banquet and there wasn't a real option for a gluten-free dessert and Lucas told me, "I know what I can do with the $5 I got from the tooth fairy. Tomorrow I'm going to buy Kayla a gluten-free cupcake from that truck. Well first I was thinking I could get her a bracelet (from one of the vendors in the exhibit area), but then I thought she doesn't really wear bracelets. So then I thought about getting something for myself. But then she didn't get to have anything last night or tonight and I did, so next I thought about buying her a cupcake." At the end of that post I wrote, "May he always be this concerned and caring and have such a big heart."

So he's not so little anymore ... he just finished his first year of middle school (!). How are things between them now? Does he still show concern and caring for her? Does he still have a big heart? Is he still an example of how you treat someone with a disability?

Well let me give you an example of just how big his heart for Kayla is ... something that truly shows the love that only siblings can have for one another.

Lucas' school participates in a secret gift exchange over the holidays and last December Lucas came home with a gift of ... a rubber chicken. A rubber chicken that squeaks. That annoying kind of squeak like a dog's chew toy; who knows maybe it came from the pet section of the store. I pretty much told Lucas that chicken was banned from the downstairs and he could squeak it all he wants upstairs in his room, haha!

Needless to say Kayla is not a fan of this chicken either. She will tell you in no uncertain terms that she hates that chicken. If Lucas is playing with it you can hear a deep loud groan/sigh from Kayla, "Ugh! I HATE that chicken! I hate that squeak noise!"

One day Lucas went outside to play and Kayla was in her room. All was quiet upstairs and then I heard Kayla open her bedroom door, pause, exclaim something about that chicken, and SQUEAK. Again came the SQUEAK of that chicken. Joe and I looked at each other in confusion. "Isn't Lucas outside?" I asked him. He replied that he thought so. I said, "Well there's no way Kayla would be playing with that chicken, she doesn't like it."

Then Kayla yelled out in frustration something about HIS WEIGHT!

I'm a little more confused than before. I ask her what she's talking about.

"Lucas put this weight on the chicken!"

Me, "There is a weight on the chicken?"

K, "YES! Outside my door! I don't like this chicken!"

Turns out Lucas squeezed/deflated the chicken, placed it on the floor in front of Kayla's door and put a hand weight on top of it. The weight was to keep it depressed so when she would pick up the weight to move the chicken it would of course SQUEAK.

In essence he set a booby-trap for her.

Because he loves her so much and knows how annoyed she is by the squeak of the chicken.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Watch how someone treats their sibling with a disability and you will see that special love siblings have for each other.

Yes, Joe and I had a good chuckle about this conniving and devious plan of Lucas' to sabotage his sister - after all - isn't that what siblings are for whether they have an extra chromosome or not?