The Story Behind This Little Girl Rocking Her Sister to Sleep Will Bring You to Tears

After Brea Schmidt's firstborn asked if she could rock her baby sister to sleep for her afternoon nap, the mom of three and blogger at The Thinking Branch watched from the doorway as her little girl played mama to the family's youngest child. Because "the baby loves her so much, she played right along," and what resulted from the encounter is a sweet photograph and a heartwarming memory this mom will likely draw on for years to come.

"My daughter made up her own lullaby that consisted of nothing but the words 'I love you' in the lyrics," Brea wrote in a post to Facebook. "She petted her hair like I do all of my kids when I am trying to get them sleep-ready. She kissed her head over and over. And eventually my little one relaxed into the little love spa her big sis had created — and fell right asleep."

Following the successful attempt at getting the baby to sleep, Brea asked her daughter if she'd like her to put her sister in her crib, but the little girl had other plans. "She says, 'No, Mommy. I'll sit here with her until she wakes up. I want her to feel loved.'"

Aside from the fact that we're sobbing over this extreme level of cuteness, we can't help but also nod along with Brea's takeaway after witnessing this moment of parental bliss: "Some parenting days are brutal, man. But a lot of them are pretty beautiful too."