When I learned we were having a son, my first thought was that it was a great joy. But almost immediately, I thought of my daughter, who was barely eighteen months old.

I knew very well that older children are often jealous of younger ones, and sometimes this leaves a mark on their small, vulnerable psyches. I was scared. I was afraid she would feel unwanted, forgotten, replaced.

So I talked to her every day—stroking her hair and telling her that she had a little brother growing in her belly, whom she would have to love and protect. She seemed to understand. Or at least pretended to.

Who knows what goes on in the mind of an eighteen-month-old child.

But after the birth, something so unexpected happened that I will never forget that moment.

I was lying in the hospital room holding the baby when my husband arrived with our daughter to introduce her to the brother. My little one stopped by the bed and stared for a long, long time at the bundle in the blue blanket.

She was either pondering something, or choosing her words, or simply trying to understand why this little wrinkled creature had taken the place of her mother’s arms.

She glanced up at me, then studied her brother again, wrinkled her nose, puffed out her cheeks, furrowed her brows… and suddenly she said something that completely shocked my husband and I.

Mommies, what was it like with your children?

“Mom… why did you do this? I thought you were going to give me a big brother. But he’s small! My dolls are bigger than him. Give him back. I want a big one. Like Daddy.”

My husband turned pale, then blushed, then turned away and coughed, trying to hide his laughter. I bit my lip to keep from bursting out laughing. The nurse retreated into a corner and buried her face in the wall—otherwise, she would have just collapsed on the floor laughing.

But a couple of minutes later, my daughter, still pretending to be a very serious grown woman, quietly came closer. She carefully touched the blanket with one finger, looked at her brother, and said almost in a whisper:

“Well… okay. He can stay with us… for a little while. And then you’ll bring me a big one. A good one. And I’ll break this one.”

And within an hour, she wouldn’t let anyone near him—not even her husband. Because, as she said:

“He’s my little one. I’ll grow him up myself. So he’ll grow up.”