How to Celebrate Becoming a Big Bro or Sis

Welcoming a new baby is one of the most joyful and exciting events anyone can experience, but it can also give rise to anxieties, doubts and fears. Most parents-to-be can alleviate their concerns by educating themselves about parenthood and talking through their feelings with their partner and friends, but the younger members of the family may still have questions. For young siblings-to-be, the prospect of a changing family structure can be a little more difficult to grasp and process, and they may need extra support to accept it.

There are many things parents can do to ensure their older child feels secure and prepared in the face of becoming an older brother or sister. Resources abound to help teach young children about the pregnancy and birth process, to help them relate to the newborn, and to normalize common feelings of envy, wonder, and nervousness that can accompany welcoming a new sibling. Here are a few t-shirt and book ideas to help children transition to becoming big brothers or sisters: Just Tees Please, Tee With Sugar, Jabberwocky Books and I See Me! Inc.

Just Tees Please Celebrates Big Sibs

Sometimes, when a child is in the early days of adjusting to becoming a new big brother or sister, it can help for them to have a special item that’s all their own. While kids often prefer toys to clothes, an item of clothing that has meaning can bring just as much enjoyment, and can be treasured as a keepsake in the years to come. Just Tees Please is a Georgia-based maker of embroidered T-shirts in various themes and designs. Their sibling t-shirts are popular sellers, as are their matching doll-sized T’s.

Owner Wendy McNamee creates her t-shirts in colorful, kid-friendly designs. Wendy, a retired home economics teacher, has always been handy with a needle and thread, and naturally, she has always loved children. When she makes a shirt, she puts her heart and soul into her work and imagines how the item might have a positive effect on the buyer’s life. Unlike many types of embroidered clothing, which tend to be heavy and rough, Just Tees Please shirts are relatively light and soft to the touch. They can be customized with the child’s name or pretty much anything the buyer would like.

Just Tees Please was once housed in a brick and mortar store, but has since gone exclusively online, where their happy-go-lucky designs can be bought and enjoyed by families across the globe: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Just-Tees-Please/177177872339440

Tee With Sugar Personalizes Orders

The popularity of the personalized t-shirt is further proven by this Texas company. Tee With Sugar is an offshoot of the clothing company Ella Bella, which was founded in 2006. Ella Bella offers colorful, somewhat retro clothing designs for both boys and girls. Their personalized leggings were always one of their best sellers. Emblazoned with the child’s name or some other saying, these cool leggings are great for dance class, school, cheerleading or just hanging out.

Using the success of the leggings as a springboard, Ella Bella also began offering personalized tees. Soon, the demand for these shirts became so great that Ella Bella owner Jenn Kropholler opened Tee With Sugar in 2012 to better serve her customers.

Tee With Sugar’s shirt designs range from little-kid cute to big-kid cool and can be customized with names, dates, events, numbers, or whatever you like. For kids about to become big brothers or sisters, there are many options. Because the shirts are customized, parents can choose from a variety of designs available and then add the child’s name to other embellishments, or they can choose a blank shirt and start from scratch.

In addition to selling to customers directly from their home store, Tee With Sugar also sells their products wholesale to other retail stores: www.facebook.com/TeeWithSugar

“So You’re Going to Be a…” Books Help New Bro and Sis

Reading with kids is a great way to help them better understand the joys and challenges of having a little brother or sister. In the pages of a book, the child can find characters that share the same questions, concerns, and emotions as they do, making them feel less alone.

Source Books is an online bookseller that carries titles in a wide range of topics from a variety of publishers, including Jabberwocky books. Jabberwocky offers picture books that help kids understand the world around them through fun, colorful images and comforting, informative text.

For little ones about to welcome a new sibling, there are the So You’re Going To Be a… Big Brother and So You’re Going To Be a… Big Sister books by Marianne Richmond. These simple board books help pre-school kids better understand their new role as older siblings and the ways in which their lives will change for the better, thanks to the new arrival.

Author Marianne Richmond is an inspirational writer, artist and mom to four kids. About her So You’re Going to Be a… books, she says, “My intent was to create a story that underscored the excitement of adding a new sibling but also poked fun at the reality that sometimes the Big Bro or Sis isn’t all that excited for the arrival until they realize … the baby is here to stay!”

For more information and selections, visit www.sourcebooks.com

I See Me! Tells the Story of Their Lives

I See Me! Inc. is a children’s book company started in 1998 by Maia and Allen Haag. The Haag’s goal was to produce materials that celebrate the uniqueness of every child. I See Me! offers personalized children’s books that include the child’s name and other details to create stories that personally relate to a child’s situation. Their Super, Incredible books are made specifically for children who are about to become big brothers or sisters. Both The Super, Incredible Big Brother and The Super Incredible Big Sister books feature the child’s name and the name of the baby on the way. They’re designed to encourage the soon-to-be-siblings to embrace this special event and to reassure them that their place in the family is secure during this time of transition.

Co-founder Maia Haag started her career as a marketing exec for General Mills, but while on maternity leave with her son, she was bitten by the writing bug. Her first book, My Very Own Name, was a simple yet meaningful personalized children’s book in which cute animals gather in the letters needed to form the child’s name. Haag saw a demand for personalized children’s books and launched I See Me! that same year.

For more information, visit www.iseeme.com