Enough Love for Two

Author: Unknown

When Kerri was almost two, we found we were expecting another baby. We wanted to get Kerri used to having another child around, hoping she would learn to share and be good to other kids. So, our friend, Millie, brought their little boy over to play with Kerri and she loved Andy a whole lot. They played together and she didn't have trouble sharing her things with him, at all. Andy was about a year old, I guess, and was such a contented little boy.

The day, finally, arrived and we had another baby girl, named Sherri. She was called 'Peanut' all her life, and still is.

On the day we were to go home from the hospital, I had asked my mom to get Kerri dressed for the coming home ride, so that Kerri would feel like this was her baby, too ~ as we had said, all along, to her, "This is your baby, too."

It was mid November and there was a blizzard going on that day. So, Peanut had been wrapped in two big blankets, for the ride home.

As we got into the car, Kerri stood between me and her daddy. (That was back before the days of car seats and children seeing the babies before they came home.) During the ride, Kerri kept looking around the car and seemed sort of confused.

"What's the matter honey?" I asked. "What are you looking for?"

"Where's my baby?" she asked me. I opened the blankets to expose the little tiny face of her sister, to which she replied, "Oh," and looked very disappointed.

We tried to make conversation, with Kerri, on the ride home; fearful, already, that she didn't like her new sibling. Then I realized, to her, a baby was Andy and he was much bigger, and able to play. This little thing was not her idea of a baby.

During the early days of 'welcome home, baby' there were adjustments and I had the job of sorting through some of Kerri's clothes; some to keep, some to pass on, some to get rid of, and some to give back to the people that had loaned them.

One day, while setting to this task, again, Peanut began to fuss and I needed another hand, for sure. Picking up the baby, then I grabbed a diaper and a washcloth (before the days of Pampers and wipes) and settled on the couch to change her. I must have been grumbling about everything needing attention at the same time. I was so frazzled, trying to be a good mom and not to let Kerri feel left out. I had serious doubts that Kerri would ever like Peanut, her new baby.

I must have been near tears, myself, in my frustration, as Kerri approached us. She was very quiet and subdued. (Though, Kerri was never a noisy child and demanded very little of my time.) She had a tear in her eye. So, I asked "What's the matter, honey?"

Then came the answer to my prayers, "Mommy, can we keep her?"

I guess my sorting clothes had been quietly observed by this little girl, full of questions on who stays and who goes; just like with the clothes.

What a day of blessing that was! There have been many times since then that they have fought and wanted to give each other away. But, for today, there was enough love to keep them both.


"Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied." - Jude 1:2