For some reason our middle daughter has always felt like a middle child, even before the birth of her baby sister. She’s loving and attentive but does demand the lion’s share of attention compared to her older brother who is more than happy with whatever he gets.
We waited quite a while before we brought a baby into the house, and this was part of the reason as we’d already witnessed her trying to smother the family dog with a pillow and hiding the new-born chicks so they wouldn’t get mummy cuddles too.
When we brought Percy home, she was overwhelmed by this tiny bundle of joy that didn’t do anything much. It seemed the crisis was averted as the baby just needed to be carried about while she still got all the attention she craved.
Then Percy began to walk which took our attention away for a while as we’d chase her around the house and gardens keeping a very close eye. No longer was one place sufficient, this toddler needed stimulation, lots of attention and extra pairs of eyes. At home our daughter seemed to take it in her stride but at school cracks began to show, she got a detention for pulling a moony at a very shocked bus driver (she was 6), was separated from her friend for fisticuffs and demanded to be the start of the school show.
In a strange twist instead of letting her know she was still our baby girl we actually gave her more responsibility. She’d spend time with me doing things only big girls could do and babies were not allowed. Soon Percy started leaning towards her whenever she wanted a playmate and big sister loves having someone to boss around.
There’s still sibling rivalry as now it’s Percy that becomes quite jealous of the attention my other daughter gets however, our middle daughter has finally realised that an extra family member doesn’t mean the loves got to spread further, it means there’s more to go round!
