Baby Makes Four

Stanley and Janice Berenstain

Copyright 1956

Stan and Jan Berenstain are best known for writing and illustrating the Berenstain Bears books.  Brother and Sister Bear faced all the normal joys and sorrows of siblings and Mama and Papa Bear did their best to encourage and guide.  In real life, the Berenstains had two sons, Mike and Leo.  I can tell by reading their picture books that they were writing from experience.  What I didn’t know is that Stan and Jan also wrote a couple of parenting books.  

This one here, Baby Makes Four, was written after four- year -old Leo had his world disrupted by new baby Mike.  The Berenstain family approached this experience like all others, with practicality and humor.  The advice to not take life with young children too seriously is so useful if parents want to maintain sanity!  

“How in the name of all that’s reasonable can you give the baby attention it must have without Big Brother getting increasingly fed up with the whole idea of having a baby brother…It’s simply a matter of tearing yourself in half and plowing ahead in two different directions.”

Arranging for the older child to be immersed in a project when you know the baby will be needing attention is great advice.  If that doesn’t work, as the illustration below depicts, “You’ll find that Baby makes a very nice bookrest.”

 

Adding a brand new baby to a family is a huge adjustment for each and every member.  My thoughts are with Theo and Baby Marilyn this week as they begin their relationship – and here’s hoping their parents can find the humor along the way!