I truly believe that the middle child syndrome is a thing. It is one of the reasons why I only wanted to have two children (not to mention being outnumbered!). Since having Anna, I have been consciously fighting against the tide of this syndrome. People say that because my middle child is a boy that it shouldn’t be so bad for him, that because he is the only boy he will be treated special in his own right, middle child or not. Frankly, I don’t think that being a boy has helped Charlie out. If I am to be honest, I am somewhat softer and more tenderhearted towards the girls. I find it easier to be harsh with him. Good. No. True. Yes.
I have to remind myself to lavish affection on him. He is an affectionate little guy. Unlike the sons of some of my friends who run from cuddles, he fights for them. He has to fight against an always demanding, rather overpowering big sister, and the cutesy baby of the family. They will pretty much always over power him, so ultimately, I need to fight this fight for him. One of the ways I try to do that is with special bed time cuddles.
Charlie simply glows under this kind of attention. It makes me want to remember to more regularly give him this time undivided attention. As I tell my hubby about my time with Charlie, “I whisper sweet nothings to him. I tell him about all the ways he amazes me. How I liked when he did this and was proud of him when he did that. Last night I read him an old blog post I wrote about him, “Deliciously Baby: 10 Things I love about Charlie”.
He has changed a lot in the five years since I wrote that. I think it is time for a new list of ten. Something more relevant to read to him next time we cuddle up together. And so…
10 Things I Love about Charlie 2018
I love…
1.) …the way he can spend huge chunks of time drawing intricate and creative pictures and have wild stories to match them.
2.)…the way he can make friends with anyone because he is just a nice little dude and is ready to include anyone in his adventures.
3.)…his enthusiasm to learn and discuss new things
4.)…the way he is delighted by the smallest present, even a new pair of socks.
5.)…the way he goes to sleep right away, sleeps through the night, and never wakes us up (his sisters compensate for this by waking us up multiple times every night!).
6.)…the way his face glows when he is praised.
7.)…the way he stores up nuggets of wisdom from his kindergarten teacher and shares them with me and his sisters.
8.)…the way he defends his sisters, alternately, against one another and whoever else might comes against them.
9.)…the way he tries to take care of his sisters by seeking equality. If he is out on a daddy date and gets a kinder surprise he always asks that his sisters get one too.
10.)…the fact that even at almost 6 years old he seeks to cuddle with me, sit in my lap, and generally be close to his mommy.
Charlie, I will love you forever. I will like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.
