Hero Worship

"I love Josh more than anybody in the whole world," Christa announced.
"Even more than me?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied, without a hint of concern for my mommy-feelings.
And I'm okay with that.
Josh is Christa's older brother. He is 22, while four-year-old Christa won't break double digits for a few more years. Josh just graduated from college (hooray!) and Christa starts pre-K in the fall.
Despite the huge time gap that separates them, Christa and Josh have a heart connection. Maybe it's because he was the only one in the family who could get her to fall asleep when she was a fussy infant. (He agreed to bedtime duty if I agreed that he would never change a diaper. I thought that was a fair trade.)
When Christa refused to fall asleep, Josh cradled her in his arms and walked back and forth in his room while Celtic music played in the background.
These days Christa loves to Instant-Message Josh. Her messages are long lines of letters like "zzzzdfdfiiuuuu" puncuated with what she calls a sticker--a smiley face or rainbow or heart emoticon. She is over-the-moon thrilled that Josh got a webcam, allowing her to see her big brother wave and sign "I love you."
I'm thankful Christa loves her big brother more than anybody in the whole world. Christa needs heroes (and heroines) in her life. Why not her brother? Having the love and admiration of a young child is not to be taken lightly. Josh realizes that--and he has no plans to disappoint his baby sister.