Tuesday, August 5, 2014

The Baby

I have a cousin who has three sons and the youngest of those three sons has been pissed off his entire life over being the baby of the family. At three years old, this child went around telling everyone he was five. He always, ALWAYS wanted to be older than he was. He hated that his next older brother was five whole years older than he is.

Last night, I made dinner and put it on the table in front of the girls. I then walked away to get something and Olivia called out to me, “But what about feed me?”

I laughed and told her, “You’re a big girl. You can take bits all by yourself.”

She sighed and picked up her spoon. I started to walk away but then turned back and asked her, “Do you just like it better when Daddy or I feed you?”

She nodded, a silly grin on her face.

My girl…she likes being the baby. She loves being babied and has never, ever wished to be older or more independent than she is.

I sometimes feel lucky that my youngest child enjoys that distinction. But then I worry that we’re stunting her development by indulging her desire to be babied. I know she needs to be independent and learn life skills. We work on these things and we encourage her to be independent.

But there are days when I am more than willing to snuggle my baby a little longer, to hold her tighter and let her continue to be the baby as long as she wants. It just works for us.

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