Hey, second child! Welcome to the fam!
When I had your older sister, I obsessed about every little thing. I constantly stared at the clock to know, down to the exact minute, when she should eat next, sleep, and eat once again. Did she just pee? Let me hurry up and change that diaper. Was that a bad cough? Call the pediatrician. She’s had the hiccups a lot today–let me Google that.
When you arrived, Laid-Back Mom was also born. Taking a trip around the block once before gave me a huge amount of confidence. I was much more relaxed. Due to your mom now having a PhD in Mommyhood, life will be slightly less stressful for you as well. I won’t be as panicked and as much like “deer caught in the headlights” at every cry you utter in the same way I was once before.
In order for life to go on smoothly with you meshing with the rest of us, you’ll need to follow the attached list of rules:
1. Thou shall not complain about the fact that most of your clothing is used. You and your sister were born in the same season. Here are a bunch of bags full of her old garments that you can have. Oh, those pajama bottoms don’t match the top? Sorry, not sorry. You did have a new outfit to come home from the hospital in, so there is that.
2. Thou shall call your grandparents the same names your older sibling coined. For whatever reason, your sister came up with the names Gigi and Grum for your grandparents. Don’t like them? Want to call them Gma and Gramps? Grammie and Papa? No. You can’t. Just go with it.
3. Thou shall be flexible about (not) napping. Your sister was on a very strict nap schedule. You’re happy if you get a good nap in an actual crib a few days a week instead of in a car, running from one activity to the next? Good. Hold onto that happiness.
4. Thou shall learn quickly how to handle yourself and fight back with older siblings. Your sister had a quick wake-up call about sharing and waiting her turn when you were no longer a sleeping/crying baby blob. During this learning process, a few slaps, pushes, kicks, and objects thrown at your head have occurred. As soon as you get a bit more strength in those baby biceps, fight back and put her in her place. On the outside, I’ll look stern and lecture you; however, on the inside, I’ll be cheering like a crazy soccer mom on the sidelines.
5. Thou shall not hold any resentment that your older sibling ate nothing but GMO free/organic foods at your age. I really did try for a while after you began solids. The more demanding you and your sister became, the less I cared—about the food, not you! Foods that were forbidden from your sister’s diet until after her first birthday made their way to your tray because convenience. Because how dare your sister sit there in front of you, eating a cookie, and not give you a bite! Here. Here’s a cookie after your bowl of mac n’ cheese with a side of GMO chicken nuggets.
6. Thou shall never ask in an irritated tone about the tiny size of your baby book, the lack of pictures showing only you, and where your first lock of hair is after finding your older sister’s. Hey, I did start a journal for you, at least. See? Yeah, okay, it’s only a page with the title, “Month 1: Finding Out” followed by one sentence about the positive pregnancy test, but it is something! It shows that I was very excited to find out about your pending arrival and didn’t want to forget the date of peeing on a stick.
Truth is, you’re very important to this family, and despite having to follow a mandate from us, you’re already marching to the beat of your own drum, and it’s totally awesome to see. Your baby book might not be busting at the seams as your sister’s is, but that doesn’t reflect the amount of love we have for you. You may be the second child of the family, but you’re definitely not second in our hearts.