My sister had 2 daughters and was pregnant with her third child when my grandparents flew down to Baltimore one Sunday to visit. My grandparents were talking with Shoshana, who at 4 years old was the big girl in the family. Shoshana was expressing her frustrations at not having a brother, and she asked my grandparents for a big brother. My grandmother explained that she couldn't really have any big brothers, but maybe she could have a little brother.
Shoshana thought about this for a minute and said,
I want the baby to be a boy so I'll have a little brother!
My sister responded that it's not up to us, it's up to Hashem whether we have a boy or a girl. Shoshana thought about this for a minute as my grandparents looked on, then stuck her head under the table and started muttering "wussawussawussawussa" under the table. My grandparents looked at each other, looked at my sister, and waited.
All of a sudden, she comes back up with a big smile on her face. Everyone looks at her questioningly, and she grins and says,
I asked Hashem, and He said okay!!
She now has a little brother; our grandparents, who are Conservative, love this story.
3 comments:
My mom tells me that when I was 3 and she was about to have her next child she asked me what I wanted, and I said, "I would like a shishta."
I don't know what she would have done had I asked for a brother.
I wish I had an iota of the pure faith of my children. They (girls, 6 and 4) often have discussions about Hashem and about the End of Days.
Sample from yesterday:
6: When Moshiach comes, there won't be any bad guys, because they'll all become good. Or maybe they'll be destroyed.
4: Only Hashem knows.
(Of course, not too long after, 6-year-old asks me what a butler is and then giggles and says, "BUTT-ler!" So it's kind of a give-and-take.
When I was six, my mother was pregnant. I already had an older sister and a younger brother. I *really* wanted a little sister to play with, not another brother (yech!). When she came home with a baby girl, I was convinced that my wishing for it had made it so. I felt so powerful! Then I found out rather quickly that she wouldn't be any fun to play with for awhile, and my enthusaism dampened.
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