Brothers

Just got back from our tour of Fenn with Pipo and EJ. It seemed a little silly, seeing as the boys spend so much time there with Fitz. But it was nice for them to see the school more in depth, and ask questions. Lori, who gave us the tour, had quite a few of her own questions for the boys. At one point, she asked them what they thought about being in a classroom with no girls. Neither of them hesitated even slightly, and they replied in unison "Great!" She told us this is the typical response from the incoming 4th graders.

It just amazes me daily to see the true friendship that has grown between these two boys. Before Philippe arrived last year, Fitz and I talked often about how bringing a new chiild into the mix would change the dynamic of our family. We were both worried the most about how it would affect EJ. He is such a thoughtful, sensitive, quiet kid, and he has never been one to let his feelings be known. He and Philippe are just a year apart as well, so we worried about competition with boys that age. After Pipo arrived, we were even more concerned, as we saw how drastically different their personalities were. Pipo is an extreme extrovert...loud, bossy, social, confident...all of the things EJ has never been. Within a few weeks, EJ's friends were shouting on the bus to have Pipo sit with them. This set EJ off a bit, so he naturally fought to keep his place in school. Pipo, being incredibly competetive, fought right back. We had some pretty heated battles back then.

Fitz and I made an enormous effort to try and point out the common ground the boys shared, and spent time with each of them one on one, as well as finding little projects the two of them could work on together. Slowly, the fighting got less and less. Soon, we started to notice some pretty cool changes taking place in both boys. EJ started to come out of his shell a bit. His teacher called me, amazed that EJ was sharing in class, and speaking out often, which he had never done. On the other hand, EJ seemed to help tone down Pipo's intensity. Pipo noticed how EJ reacted to situations, and learned to show a little bit of reserve.

A year later, you would never know there had been an issue between these two. They are brothers through and through, but much more than that...they are best friends. They rarely do anything without the other. They share not just a room now, but many interests and friends. Fitz and I stood back today in the parking lot after finishing up our tour, and watched our sons walking towards the van with their arms around eachother. And we realized how incredibly lucky we are. It's been an amazing year here at the Fitz house.