Little girl gets ‘promoted’ to being a big sister in a sweet family ceremony
There’s no question that becoming an older sibling is a serious job. That’s why one New Orleans family celebrates the milestone with a promotion party.
In a TikTok video that has been seen more than 6 million times, mom Chauvon Landry is seen addressing guests at her baby shower. Standing proudly by Landry’s side is her 6-year-old daughter, Lexi. Lexi knows what’s about to happen.
“She’d been waiting all day for her moment,” Landry, 40, tells TODAY.com.
“I would like to promote Lexi Landry to big sister!” Landry announces in the TikTok clip, as a huge smile spreads across the little girl’s face. The crowd erupts into cheers and Landry places a sparkly crown on Lexi’s head.
But the ceremony isn’t over just yet. Next, Landry summons her 7-year-old daughter, Ava, to the front of the room, and reveals that she is being promoted to “big-big sister.” Ava, however, is more interested in her cake pop than her title change.
Landry welcomed twin girls, Reign and Royaltie, in Dec. 2021. The motivational speaker and her husband, Antoine, are also parents of Marli, 15, and Ace, 12.
“We started doing this before (Ace) was born,” Landry tells TODAY.com. “Everybody kept saying, ‘Oh, when the baby gets here, you’re gonna have jealousy issues.’ And I thought, ’It doesn’t have to be that way. I’m going to help them realize that they’re stepping into a very important role.’”
Parenting and youth development expert Dr. Deborah Gilboa applauds Landry.
“Kids want to feel like they’re part of a team, and (this mom) is doing that, and helping them to see that they will have new privileges and responsibilities,” Gilboa tells TODAY.com.
But if your child doesn’t like being the center of attention like Lexi does, you can also have them make a picture book for the baby about all the cool and interesting things they will get to do.
"That's another way to get them excited about the baby," Gilboa says.
Dr. Laura Markham, a clinical psychologist and author of “Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings,” likes Landry's approach as it helps the older child to feel "valued and recognized."
“But it’s important that the parents affirm to the older child that they will still get their needs met,” Markham tells TODAY.com. “They look so big to us when the new tiny baby comes that we sometimes forget that they are still very little and they still also need to be babied sometimes. We need to tell them this explicitly.”
Landry says Lexi, 6, is crushing it as a big sister. But Gilboa notes that transitions can be tricky for children ages 4 and younger.
“It takes roughly six months for them to really believe that the new baby is here to stay. And they might have some feelings once that belief starts to become more permanent,” Gilboa explains. “When the baby starts taking stuff out of their hands — that’s when they can start to feel really frustrated.”
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This article was originally published on TODAY.com
