The Middle Kid Syndrome...I'm not sure if it's really a syndrome or not...although I can't REALLY intelligently speak of it since I'm a firstborn. Not a lot of people put stock into the whole Birth Order philosophy...but, I can't really deny some key points from it. After all, my husband is the baby of his family...and I will admit that coming from having all younger siblings, entering into a family of all older siblings that were in different seasons of life than us...Well, that took some getting used to...
All that to say...I'm watching my 3 daughters...my eldest definitely has those first child personality traits. She's the worrier, the mothering type, the one that hates to fail and tends to be perfectionistic in even the littlest of areas...My baby is a typical baby...well, she IS a baby right now, but even so, she's the one that likes to get us to laugh, she's been the easiest of sleepers, the carefree one...
Then comes my middle girl...she's my adventurous one, the "it's okay, Mom", the pick herself up and brush off so she can keep going, the bull in the china shop...but she's also at an age where her baby sister gets a LOT of attention because she has to....and her older sister is doing all this new stuff, like soccer or school or piano lessons...and she's just gotta sit there and watch. Granted, she is her BIGGEST cheerleader...always wanting to clap or say "great job"...but you can tell that she sooooooooo wants to get in there herself...
It happened at soccer practice last night. They let her join in the drills, but when it came time for the scrimmage, she had to step out and her heart broke...the tears came in buckets...She had been holding it in as best she could, because she HAD been warned...but when the time came...her little 4 year old heart couldn't take it...
I don't know...I think building character in our children is alot easier SAID than DONE...My heart doesn't do so well with it either...and yet, I look at my Middle Brother...I have to admit, he's smarter, well rounded, laidback and takes life as it comes...so maybe all the "character building" of watching me go first did him some good...just not sure how my Mom handled it at the time...
