Isaac Can you Help Me?

When Isaac and Ethan take a bath there is always a lot of activity.  Splashing, fighting over toys, wrestling.  Washing is the easiest and shortest part of the bath.  And in this hubbub, there are rituals.  Isaac smacks the drain cover on the wall at the end of the bath and Ethan's "job" is to put the drain plug back in.  We also have a bit of a ritual for washing hair.  I use a large Lego cup to drop water on their hair to rinse out the soap.  After this is my favorite little moment in every bath.

Isaac's hair is, as you know, virtually waterproof.  It takes five or six cups of water to rinse out the soap.  Ethan's angel hair, on the other hand, is so easy to rinse that even one cup is too much.  Invariably he gets water in his eyes and he doesn't want to open them.  So then he turns to his guard dog of a big brother and says: "Isaac can you help me?"

When he does this Isaac knows exactly what to do.  When Isaac was little and got something in his eyes, Bianca would have him close his eyes, gently place her fingers on his eyelids, and have him roll his eyes around, pushing the debris to the edge of the eye where tears and more easily discharge it.

And though there is nothing but water in Beeth's eyes, Isaac does this to his little brother.  In a fifteen or twenty minute splashing wrestling match, this moment of gentle care is incredibly tender.  It makes Isaac feel good because he is taking care of his brother and it makes Ethan feel good because his brother is taking care of him.  And, as a Dad, this caring makes me feel so good knowing, despite warring with each other all of the time, at the heart of their relationship is a brotherly bond like no other.
Tony Sculimbrene