I wish everybody in the whole world was just like her.

We've been pretty tired from the busy weekend, so we have been hanging out at home the past couple of days.  Aliza made a fort in the living room with four dining room chairs and a pile of blankets.  She put toys and books and the boys' fun folders and puzzles inside.  It was great fun for them all.

... but they were still drawn to the TV like moths to a flame.

Aliza is such a wonderful playmate for Zack and AJ.  She knows what they like and will respond to, but then she introduces aspects of playing that might be new to them, too.  She loves drawing them out of their video-watching shells and getting them to interact with her.

I wish the whole world worked as hard as she does to get them to belong.

I wish every child growing up with a disability had a sibling just like her.  Someone to be their sidekick, and know them intimately.  Someone who gets them and can help introduce them to the rest of the world, and maybe even more importantly, introduce the rest of the world to them.  She is great for bridging that gap between the expectations kids have of how other kids will behave, and how MY kids behave.

You might say, they need a Sancho Panza.  Somebody to be their ever-faithful companions, and to help keep them out of trouble.  (I just recently decided I need to read Don Quixote again.  I read it in college in Spanish - i.e., I didn't really get it.)

Who, us?  We weren't doing anything.