Big Brother To The Rescue

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. My husband travels for work and he's been very busy the last few weeks. While he is away, life in our house is chaotic to say the least. It's jam packed full of sword fighting, half naked kids, arguing brothers, wrestling, teething babies, a dog who joins the fun, and an obsessive amount of iced coffee for mama. Maybe this is just typical for anyone that lives with three kids under five years old.While he's away, I do what I can to make our week run as smooth as possible. This means a lot of trips to the park, meal plans, swimming in the back yard, Indian food, and family movies. The park is perfect because it's about a ten minute walk from our house. The adventure there is perfect to wear them out and we find a few treasures along the way. As you can see, they love it. Things never run as smooth when my husband is away, but we make it work. Lately, my oldest Liam has decided he's going to help out when he's away. He's been learning what it means to be an anna to his younger brothers. Anna (pronounced unna) means older brother. My husband and I have taught him how important it is to be an anna to his brothers. As an anna, it's your responsibility to watch over your siblings, teach them, give them advice, love them, encourage, and correct them. He's only four, but he understands how special it is. He loves being able to teach his thammudus (pronounced thumb-or-doos). While we were at the park, I was watching my kids play. Levi, my wild child, started to climb a tree and got scared. He started yelling and I quickly jumped up to help, but stopped when I saw the most precious thing. Liam ran over with a very serious look on his face.It's ok thammudu! Anna is here. I'll help you down. Just look. You can do it. Go slow. You got it!!Usually Levi fights Liam over who's in charge. He say's he's not a thammudu (quite forcefully) and Liam jumps on the chance to correct him. Levi had no fight in him this time. He was in need and was perfectly happy letting his anna come and save him. As Levi stepped down, he gave Liam a big hug and they ran off together. I know it seems like a very small thing, but it wasn't. Levi is my middle child and loves to argue, stand up to everyone, and tell people to leave him alone.. I get worried that he won't let people help him when he really needs it. This special moment showed me how much he will rely on his anna when he needs it. Having three boys has proved chaotic, but I am so happy all three of them are becoming the best of friends. It means they will all be there for each other even if mommy and daddy aren't there all the time. Were you the anna/akka or the thammudu/celli in your family? What did that mean in your family?