I wrote this back when daycare pickup was a thing… it’s amazing how quickly things change. I also wonder if this time at home will bond them even more, or make them finally sick of each other…
It’s always a toss up what rides home from daycare are going to be like. Some days G will be singing slippery fish to himself, hand motions and all while E is mostly quiet. Other days it’s the opposite. G will be looking out the window, oohing and ahhing at whatever catches his eye, while E tries to tell me stories from the day.
And then there are the other days.
The days where they decide to team up and make the drive home interesting.
E: “My turn! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Your turn!”
G: “Ahhhhhhhh!”
E: “My turn! AHHHHHHHHHHH! Your turn!”
G: “Ahhhhhhhh!”
Both: “AHHHHahhhhhHHHHHHhhhhhhh!”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I turned up the radio and just took deep breaths for the rest of the ride home.
There’s still a lot of jealous when both of them want to be held at the same time, or cuddle in my lap, but there are more than enough sweet moments to make up for it. When E jumps out of his chair to pick up something that G dropped, or offers to share some of his food with him.
When I wake the kids up on the weekend, I usually go into G’s room first. My goal is to get some sweet baby snuggles before the day starts. Depending on how sleepy he is, I might get a few seconds, but then he’ll inevitably start lunging for the door. More important than Mama snuggles is seeing his brother after being separated for 12 hours.
They’ve also been separated from us for that long, but for some reason they’re not as excited to see us in the morning as they are to see each other…
Hmm..
Now that I have two little children, I feel like I’m finally understanding all of my friends that grew up with siblings close in age, and who are used to fighting about things being equal. My boss tells stories of his siblings and him fighting all out wars to reach the kitchen every night before bed, in order to have first pick at their evening drink of juice (even though his mom had painstakingly poured them all equally). Or I understand why my two older sisters had so many duplicate toys – buy one for one of them, and you better buy one for the other.
I haven’t exactly reached the stage where I believe everything needs to be equal, but I’ve at least witnessed the jealousy, and I understand it now.