Alison Sweeney on Preparing Ben For His Little Sister

Like most parents, Alison Sweeney wasn’t sure how son Benjamin Edward, 4, would react to becoming an older brother, so she and husband Dave Sanov tried their best to prepare him for Megan Hope‘s arrival four months ago. “We really pumped him up leading up to it,” Alison explains. However, the couple did got him ready “the same way we did to him when we took him to the dentist for the first time” and Alison admits that she ended up feeling guilty then. “Dave and I pumped him up for a month beforehand, how cool it was that Mom and Dad got to go the dentist. And then I felt a little guilty ’cause it totally worked. When he was in the waiting room and they called his name, he was like [excitedly], ‘It’s my turn!’ We felt so mean.”

After realizing that they were repeating themselves while preparing Ben for Megan’s birth, Alison and Dave “just sort of built it up, like, ‘You’re the big brother, you’re going to be in charge and get to teach her fun things.'” The couple are also careful not to “force him to love her,” instead “we say things like, ‘She loves you so much. She’s so proud to have you as a big brother'” and the actress is happy to share that “he’s been so responsive.”

There is no way to know if Megan will have her brother’s personality, but one thing is for sure — the look alike! “She looks a lot like Ben … but in a feminine way,” notes Alison. “I’m sure I’m totally biased, but I see that they resemble each other tremendously.” The Biggest Loser host is happy with her life and and shares that it “surprises people” when they learn and she and Dave will celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary in July. “We definitely got married young and had kids young and it’s what was right for us,” says Alison. “We love driving in our family car with our kids in the backseat. We’ll look at each other and say, ‘Look, our family is in the car.’ It’s such a satisfying, happy, fulfilling feeling.”

Source: Soap Opera Digest, May 12th issue

– Angela