Having an only child (of sorts)

It has been a bit of a tough couple days as Middle child is on vacation with friends from Friday till Friday. What makes it more difficult was that he was having a tough time missing us and his friends and it was hard and sad to hear him so down on the phone. This is a great opportunity for him and I am relieved to say that when we talked to him yesterday, he was much more himself and sounded like he was finally having fun.

 I am glad he is not our only child.

I had a tough time getting pregnant with Middle child but had a decent pregnancy, a surprising 10lb baby, and a wonderful infant. He was so good, that we decided to try for another one right away. I had a couple moments of "Do we want to really have another one? That would make three kids, though Daughter is only with us part time, I have one of each and that should be enough, right? And when Daughter isn't around, there would only be 3 of us and that is a weird number for amusement park rides and dinner reservations, right?" I clearly didn't do the math and realize if we had another baby, total we would be 5, an odd number.

I got pregnant 10 months after Middle was born.

It was clear early on that Youngest would be a challenge. He wasn't fussy or evil, just quiet and distant. We all know how this story goes, so I won't relieve any of it. I do want to point out: some times when I wish Middle was an only child (but with Daughter in tow, too. Confused yet?)

1)At the grocery store: Daughter walking along the Car Cart, Middle in the seat of the Car Cart, Youngest in his bucket seat in the cart, making it impossible to actually put groceries INTO the cart. Not to mention having to switch everyone at checkout to the normal carts. UGH.

2)Two boys in diapers at the same time.

3)Having to lug an active Middle child to Youngest's therapy appointments. It was ME who needed therapy after months of that.

4)Riding rides at State Fairs: someone is always with a weird stranger.

There were a lot of dark times with Youngest when I really pondered what life would be like without one of the boys. This week I got a dose of it. I don't like it.

Though they don't play together all the time, Middle child is embarrassed by Youngest child's ability to appeal to the "ladies", and they could not be more different, I am so glad we have them both. I cannot imagine one without the other or us without either of them. It took me awhile to get over my "only child" envy of friends and family, but after this week, I am there.

I am delighted with our "odd" family.

Cat