Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Our 3+ year old son, Abang, shows such affection for his 1 year old brother, Adik.

One day I took both of them to the doctor’s office for their respective immunization jabs. Adik was being quite fussy – I think sleepy and ready for a nap – and had started crying even before the Big Needle appeared. Abang looked around for a toy and gave one to Adik, saying, “Here Adik, a toy for you.” The cutest part was that Abang had this really concerned look on his face because his baby brother was obviously in distress and unhappy that he just had to find something to placate him with.

The actual jabbing moment passed quite uneventfully for Adik. When it was Abang’s turn, he was certainly uncomfortable but didn’t cry or fuss. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed by some sweets!

At home, too, Abang is just such a wonderful older brother. Always wants to play with Adik, takes him away from wires, plug points and the like, saying, “No, Adik, dangerous!” Adik reciprocates his brother’s love and affection by breaking out in the biggest, sweetest smile as soon as he sees his brother or even hears Abang’s voice.

It’s enough to make you melt, I tell you!

Then suddenly Mr Hyde gets called away and Dr Jekyll stands in for him. Dr Jekyll decides, “Hey, Adik hasn’t fallen in awhile, let’s see what reaction I can get from the adults around”.

Shove. Thud. Uwwaaaaaaaa …..!!

Or we could all be nicely playing when suddenly Abang breaks out in a long whine, escalating to crying, making its way up to screaming, all the while shouting that he “actually didn’t want to do that”.

I wish Dr. Jekyll would give me some warning when he’s about to appear. Personally, I’d prefer if the good Dr would call ahead and make an appointment so that I could be ready for his appearance, but that would be too much to ask.

I wonder how long this phase will last – until they’re 25? 30? Or perhaps just until they move out, whatever age that would be.

In the meantime, we’ll just do our best to survive the stormy seas and prepare ourselves for Adik’s turn to be Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.