Let\u2019s face it; babies are born as selfish critters who firmly believe that the sun, moon, and stars\u2014not to mention the entirety of their parents\u2019 existence\u2014revolve around them.\u00a0 Because the egocentric newborn diva has no other way to communicate with others, she will whimper, cry, screech, or wail until her immediate needs are met.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t give a furry fat rat\u2019s naked skinny tail that you are occupied in the bathroom, trying to accomplish the very task that your own\u00a0baby<\/b>, by virtue of her normal spontaneous entry into this world, has made so terribly but temporarily difficult for you.\u00a0 When your little bundle of love wants your attention, she wants it pronto!\u00a0 Whether she is hungry, wet, gassy, too hot, too cold, or just plain bored out of her gourd, she will let you know in no uncertain loud and clear tones that she wants you to come to her aid; moreover, she will continue with increasing urgency to let you know that she is summoning you, up to and\u00a0until<\/i>\u00a0you meet her needs.<\/p>\n
Eventually, you will learn to distinguish one of your baby\u2019s different cries from another and will react accordingly.\u00a0 But that wee one will remain self-centered until you teach her otherwise.\u00a0 It is a parent who teaches children to share.\u00a0 It is a parent who shows them, by example, to watch out for others, to be kind to others, to respect the person and property of others.\u00a0 Given enough time and attention to this training, most human beings acquire sufficient generosity of spirit in their relationships with others to last a lifetime (and, at the very least, to be tolerated by others\u00a0during<\/b>\u00a0that lifetime).<\/p>\n
Some babies, though, seem to be blessed from birth with a few extra nurturing genes.\u00a0 One category of children\u2014if children can truly be categorized\u2014is that of the caregiver.\u00a0 A subcategory of those tiny caregiver types comprises siblings of special-needs children.\u00a0 In the course of my adult professional and personal life, I have worked with children of elementary school age.\u00a0 Without knowing a thing about a group or class of children at first, I have often spotted a caregiver sibling; seven or eight times out of ten, I have subsequently discovered that my observation was correct.\u00a0 In one instance, though, it turned out that my supposition about a child was incorrect, but only partially so: \u00a0The special-needs person in that particular child\u2019s life was not a sibling but rather a first cousin with whom the child shared a two-family house.<\/p>\n
In all cases, it was something in the eyes and body language of tiny caregivers that caught my attention and piqued my interest.\u00a0 Theirs were the ever-observant eyes of trained undercover operatives.\u00a0 As quickly as some children\u2019s eyes can well up with tears, the eyes of a caregiving sibling can swiftly flash with an either proactive or defensive expression of readiness to intervene in situations which other children might fail to recognize or completely ignore.<\/p>\n
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