The Middle

I am the typical middle child....I have an older sister and a younger sister. I'll be the first one to tell you that I am the "forgotten child". I've always felt a little overlooked. I vowed that I would have an even number of children and avoid the middle child thing all together with my kids. With that being said, I now have 3 children.....which makes Asher my middle.

I totally understand now how the middle gets forgotten. In our house, our oldest is in to so much more- she is in kindergarten, she is in soccer, she is in choir and mission friends, she is old enough for play dates. My baby is still a baby and requires tons of attention. He has to be fed, changed, dressed, bathed, rocked, held, carried, soothed. And then, there is the middle. Yes, he needs attention too but rarely does he get one on one attention from me or my husband. He then acts out in ways to get attention- like having accidents in his pants or trying to do something to his baby brother.

Since I am a middle child, I try to be especially sensitive to my middle child. So, sometimes I let him get away with things so he can get a little more attention. For instance, the other night I came home late from choir and the kids were in bed. Asher was not asleep and heard me come in. He immediately runs to greet me at the door. I try to convince him to go to bed but he really wants to talk and be held....so, I give In. I let him help me do a little cleaning/picking up toys. I even gave him a piece of Candy and sat with him in his room for a while. I hugged him and kissed him and sang with him. I think he needed that one on one time with mommy.  And I needed it too!

I love all my babies but my heart goes out to my middle! I understand his place in our family more than I understand the 1st or 3rd. I want to make time for each of my kids so that they know they are loved, special, important. I think this is especially important with the middle. I don't want him to ever feel forgotten or overlooked.