Big Brother to little kids.

Not a parent, but an adult brother to small kids.

Like the title suggests, I myself am not a parent, but I’m a big brother (14 years older to one and 16 years older to the other) to two boys (4 and 6).

I know they are very little, but while I’m still living at home, I wanna be the best big brother I can be. My issue is that both of my little brothers (particularly the 6yo but also the younger one) are so cowardly. It might just be that they’re little kids, but the eldest one is a big strong 6 yo (he’s been mistaken as 8 or 9 in the past) but he’s just not tough at all. Any little fall, every little thing he’s either too scared to do anything or goes off screaming to mummy. He won’t go get his ball back cause he sees a strand of spiders web in the bush, he won’t run on gravel, he can’t go more than 3-4 hours without knowing where his mum is and that he’ll be back with her soon etc. in other words, he’s not a very brave kid.

He’s a bit of an attention seeker anyway, but he’s so whiny I’m fearful he will struggle in school with kids his own age who aren’t so tolerant to a “cry-baby” (at this rate he will by labelled that pretty quick). He’s a lovely boy, and very kind and a very good sportsmen even at 6, but as a big brother I wanna protect him from the social issues I had as a kid his age.

Man, I’ve rambled on now but I’ve never spent much time around this age group but is this a universal thing? Is there anything I can do as a brother to help him buck up a little bit? Am I overreacting and everything will sort itself out? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.