When our daughter came home from the hospital, I expected sleepless nights, diaper changes, and the ordinary fog that follows a new baby. I did not expect my five-year-old son, Max, to stand outside the nursery looking frightened and insist that the baby in the crib was not his sister.
At first, I thought he was overwhelmed. A new baby can make a child feel pushed aside, confused, or jealous. But Max was not acting jealous. He was serious. He held my hand tightly and told me he had seen something at the hospital after his father took him to get juice.
He said he had seen babies in matching blankets. I reminded him that hospitals often use the same striped blankets for newborns. To him, that was not the important part.
He said he had seen his sister’s ear.