Celebrating Women...for the Real World
Saturday, August 20, 2005 The Baby of The Family

Back in May I did a post about the baby of the family. The post pretty much dealt with his position (the youngest) and how it's harder for him to get away with the stuff the other two did. Not too long ago I read a post about the baby of the family not having the same opportunities to "grow up" and experience the stuff the other children did. For instance, by the time the youngest was old enough to watch Barney, the other two were no longer interested in singing with a big purple dinosaur but would rather watch the high kicking action packed show "Power Rangers". Two against one, Power Rangers ended up the show of choice. Now my youngest is in 7th grade and experiencing a lot of firsts. He is trying out for the school football team. He is working hard. My older two tell him that what he's doing is "nothing and unimportant". After all, it's all about High School football according to them.

I do get on to the other two and remind them that they didn't have an older sibling putting them down or getting involved with personal issues like behavior. I remind them to be patient and to trust me as far as discipline (obviously I must know SOMETHING. I did teach them, didn't I?). But they just don't understand.

I'd like to make all of you think that I'm SUPER MOM and have all the right answers and do everything correctly, but I know that I'm not. That being said, I'd like to share something that happened last night. One other obstacle the baby of the family has to deal with is the fact that we (OK, mostly ME), forgets how old they really are and that privileges come along with the maturation process. For instance, last night the youngest wanted to go outside and down to the corner and talk with his friends. It was 8:00 and not quite dark. I said "NO". Then my oldest reminded me what I let him do when he was in 7th grade. In all honesty, when I told the youngest "NO", the last thing I thought about was the fact that he is in 7th grade. Gees, when my oldest was in 7th, we felt like he was half grown (OK, was like 6 ft tall in 7th grade and the youngest isn't quite 5 ft yet, could be part of the problem). So, I let the young-in' go with the stipulation that he be home by 9:00. I reminded him that this is a privilege and, should he not be home by 9:00, he would prove to me that he's not ready for the responsibility. He was home by 9:00!

Moral of the story-I really don't think there is one other than to share my thoughts about being the baby in the family. Maybe y'all can relate? We'd love to hear from ya!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 3:22 PM :: 1 comments

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