Miranda wakes up to learn she has a new baby sister, Carmen. Carmen is born with Down syndrome and a heart defect. Miranda struggles to understand Carmen's differences at first but comes to accept and love her sister. Miranda helps care for Carmen and is proud to have a sister with Down syndrome, understanding that it is a permanent condition but that Carmen is still special.

1. My Sister Has Down syndrome and it Won’t Go Away!
A story about Miranda and Baby Carmen
Melissa Jane Martin
Melissa Jane Martin
17 Lancaster Lane
Weaverville, NC
P: 828-626-2462
C: 908-591-5073
E-Mail: MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
1,275 words

2. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
2
One day Miranda woke up with the sun dancing and flickering all over her sweet
four-year old face. As she opened her sleepy eyes, her grandma gave her a great big kiss.
“Good morning sweetheart,” her grandma said softly. I have some good news for
you. You have a brand new baby sister!”
“I do? I do?” Miranda said eagerly. “Where is she Grandma? I want to see her.”
“Baby Carmen has to stay at the hospital for a little while longer than most new
babies,” her grandma answered with a smile.
“But why, is something wrong? Is my new baby sister sick or something?’ Miranda
asked.
“No, no dear, not really,” grandma replied. “It’s just that Baby Carmen is very small
and the doctors want to make extra sure that she is strong enough before they send her
home.”
“How long will that take?” Miranda asked, a bit confused.
“Probably not more than a week or so, sweetie. But we can go visit each day until
Mommy and Baby Carmen come home. How is that?” grandma continued.
“YIPEE!” yelled Miranda. “I can’t wait to see her.”
The next day Miranda and her grandma went to the hospital to see Baby Carmen for
the very first time. When Miranda walked into her mommy’s room, her mommy was
holding Baby Carmen in her arms. Miranda ran to see her.
“Mommy, she is so cute and so little. When will my sister be all strong so you can
come home?” Miranda asked eagerly.
“In a few more days, honey,” her mommy answered, “Baby Carmen needs a little
more rest before we can take her home.”

3. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
3
“Okay, but hurry up,” Miranda blurted out. “I want you and my new sister back
home now!”
The day Baby Carmen finally came home Miranda was excited, but suddenly
became a teeny bit worried about sharing her mommy and daddy with someone else.
“Hmmm,” she thought as she saw her mommy holding the pink bundle in her arms, “I ‘m
not so sure about this.”
When Miranda peeked inside the blanket to see her baby sister, she was surprised
that Baby Carmen still looked so tiny. But her hair stood straight up on top of her head,
which made Miranda laugh because it looked so funny.
As the days passed Miranda started having fun watching Baby Carmen play with her
toys, especially when in her bouncy seat because bouncing always made Baby Carmen
giggle. And if Baby Carmen started to cry, Miranda could make a funny face or give her
tummy a tickle and it always made the crying stop, which made Miranda very proud.
About the time that Miranda decided that having a new baby sister was a good idea,
her mommy told her that baby Carmen had to go to the hospital for an operation.
Miranda felt sad and a little confused. “Why?” she asked her mommy.
“Well honey, Baby Carmen is a little different from other babies because she was
born with a hole in her heart,” Mommy explained, “It has to be fixed with an operation at
the hospital.”
Miranda was even more confused. Baby Carmen didn’t seem sick or different to her
and how could she have a hole in her heart? She didn’t really understand so Miranda
shrugged her shoulders and decided to go play with her favorite dolls, Ariel and Dorothy-
Wizard-of-Oz Barbie, and watched her favorite videos, The Little Mermaid and Shrek.

4. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
4
A couple weeks went by before Baby Carmen came back from the hospital. Miranda
noticed that she had a big bandage on her chest, but otherwise, she seemed just fine.
Miranda was glad that Baby Carmen was back so they could play together and she liked
helping her Mommy take care of her.
Miranda loved rolling their big blue polka-dot ball to Baby Carmen because each
time she caught it, Baby Carmen would shriek with laughter. And Miranda got to help feed
Baby Carmen her baby food peas, which usually ended up all over Baby Carmen’s face,
which made Miranda shriek with laughter.
Miranda started to notice that her mommy spent a lot of time on the phone talking
about Baby Carmen to doctors and other people. She talked about Baby Carmen much
more than she talked about Miranda, which made Miranda rather sad and a little bit angry
too. But since Miranda loved her little sister, and Baby Carmen was always so happy and
sweet, she would forget she was sad or angry whenever she played with her.
Everything seemed to be going along just fine for the next year or so as Baby Carmen
got older and wasn’t really a baby anymore even though she still seemed little.
However, Miranda noticed that little Carmen seemed to get a lot of colds and ear
infections. Her mommy took little Carmen to the doctor a lot more times than she ever
took Miranda to the doctor and she seemed to make much more fuss over Carmen than
over Miranda!
One day, Miranda marched up to her mommy and said, “Mommy, how come you
pay more attention to Carmen than you do to me?”

5. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
5
Miranda’s Mommy looked surprised and sad at the same time. She picked up
Miranda, put her on her lap and gave her a great big hug. “Oh, my dear sweet Miranda!”
her mommy said, “I am so sorry you feel that way, but I understand why and it’s okay.
Sweetie, your little sister Carmen is different from other children and different from you.”
Miranda was puzzled and said, “How Mommy, she doesn’t seem different to me
anymore, not since her operation?”
“I’m glad she doesn’t seem different to you honey.” Miranda’s mommy said. “But
she is. That’s why I have to fuss over her. Carmen has something called Down syndrome.
Because she has Down syndrome, she gets sick more often than other children. You
remember when she was tiny and we took her to the hospital for the operation to fix the
hole in her heart, right?”
Miranda said, “Oh yes, mommy “But that got all fixed and so Carmen should be all
better, right?”
“Well sweetie, her heart is better for now, but the Down syndrome part makes it
harder for her to do lots of the things that you can do. Little Carmen needs extra help to
make her muscles strong so she can learn to walk and talk just as well as you can.”
“Will it go away, Mommy?” asked Miranda. “When I get sick it goes away and I
get better.”
“No sweetheart,” her mommy said. “Down syndrome won’t go away. Carmen will
always be different. Carmen will always have Down syndrome. She won’t always be sick,
but the Down syndrome will always be there.”
“How come?” asked Miranda.

6. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
6
Miranda’s mommy smiled, “Well, it’s just the way she was sent to us,” she said.
“Carmen was born with a little something extra in her body that you and I don’t have and it
made her different.”
“You mean Carmen has something special inside her?” responded Miranda.
“Well, yes sweetie. That’s a wonderful way to describe it. But it doesn’t matter that
Carmen is different, because she’s part of our family and so full of love and sweetness, that
we’re lucky to have her. Don’t you think?”
“Of course Mommy,” Miranda chirped. “Don’t’ be radicalusss! I don’t care that she
is different. She is my very own little sister,” she chirped.
Then Miranda’s mommy said, “Daddy and I love you very much, as much as we
love little Carmen. You’re special inside too. Why, you’re our first-born little girl! But we
need your help with Carmen. We need you to be a special kind of big sister and help little
Carmen get big and strong so she can do all the things you can do and so you can always be
good friends and play together. Do you think you can do that?”
“Sure,” said Miranda, “I can help, if you need me.”
“Oh yes. We certainly do, sweetheart.”
And that was that! Miranda and little Carmen became good friends.
They watch videos together. Shrek has become little Carmen’s favorite movie. They
take walks together with their mommy and daddy. They play dress up together with their
cousin Leah. They play in their pool on the deck in the summer. They go trick-or-treating
together on Halloween. Miranda helps her mommy and daddy with special things they do
at home that mommy calls part of Carmen’s “therapy” to help her get strong.

7. “My Sister Has Down Syndrome and It Won’t Go Away” Melissa Jane Martin
908-591-5073
MelissaAMC111@gmail.com
7
Miranda is happy and excited each time her little sister Carmen does something new.
Every time Miranda walks into the room, little Carmen gives her a giant grin from ear to
ear. Carmen has her own little personality and will often do silly things to make Miranda
and her mommy and daddy laugh. When they play ring-a-round-the-rosey, Carmen plops
to the floor gleefully shrieking as they all fall down! She makes funny faces and crosses her
eyes and giggles. She even learned to tell knock-knock jokes like, “Knock-knock.”
“Who’s there?” Miranda will answer.
“Olive,” Carmen whispers.
“Olive who,” Miranda will ask.
“Olive YOU,” Carmen answers with a smile.
And when Carmen and Miranda meet someone who might notice that Carmen is
different, Miranda smiles and proudly explains, “This is my sister Carmen. My sister has
Down syndrome and it won’t go away!”
The End