Parental Ponderings

Goodness me, Maggie here, alive and kickin'! If it seems as though I've been Missing In Action.. well, it's because I have.

The youngest member of the clan is now three months old and doing great. She's at that cute stage where she'll grin at just about anything, loves to suck her thumb and ... sleeps through the night! This is huge, people, as her two year old sister does not sleep through the night.

Having four so close together (6, 4, 2 and 3 months) at my age (...ahem, 27), gets lots of big eyes from those slightly older than me with "only" one or two children to their names. Having them this close together creates an interesting dynamic, not only between the children themselves, but between us as parents and the children. They say that "Comparison is of the devil," and I have to agree--but it is SO hard not to do! Especially between sexes! When Laureli was four, she was helping around the house and cleaning up after herself without much direction from me. Her brother though? He's four and it's more of a chore to get him to do anything than the actual chore in question! I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that I can depend on his big sister to get it done, so the pressure isn't on him as much as it was with her. That being said, however, his little two year old sister tends to help more than he does.

I find that the years and milestones all get a bit muddled. I probably expect more of the younger two (not the baby--yet) because their oldest sister is capable of so much. That's not very fair to them, and I try to catch myself before I make assumptions and demands past their capability.

There are times I have more patience with the younger ones, simply because I've been there before and know what to expect. But then, there are times when that patience is scarce--because I've been there and my expectations are shot full of holes.

If there's one thing I've learned from having four children, it's that expectations are all fine and good, so long as you aren't counting on them to be fulfilled when you, well... expect them to. Case in point: I expected my baby to be asleep by now, but she's not, so this post will have to be cut short. Thanks for the example, Kayla!