What About Me?

Being a kid can be so hard, especially when you have five other siblings.

Annie and Tina are my only girls. Once they were both walking it wasn’t uncommon to be asked if they were twins, even though they looked so different from one another. One time I remember finding both girls sitting in the wood toy box my brother made for them. They had emptied all the contents onto the floor and were using it as a boat. Such a sweet memory, even in the mess. They are only fifteen months apart in age and it created its own challenges. I had to be careful when homeschooling them. I found they would compare their spelling scores or other evaluations with one another. Both are incredibly smart. I’m not just being biased, they really are smart, but everyone learns their own way and at their own pace. Tina excelled in area’s where Annie may have been just a point behind. Being the older sister can be hard in these situations but it's also hard to be the little sister. We did almost all our birthday parties at home. Annie’s is in the summer, Tina’s in the fall. Annie was turning four. That would make Tina two years, nine months old. When the girls were little, I invited the mom’s of the kids who attended to come as well. Moms and kids crammed into the small backyard of the old duplex where we lived. You really couldn’t call our backyard a lawn. It was more like leveled out weeds. Luckily, trees shaded most of the area on this hot summer day. We played ‘Balloon Walking, Pin-the-Tail on the Donkey and ate cake. We were having a grand time. All was well until it came time for Annie to open gifts. Tina could not grasp why Annie got all the gifts and she got none. I’m sure I had party favors but it meant nothing to Tina at this point. “Mine,” she would exclaim as she grabbed a present for herself. I carefully pulled it out of her vise-grip. “Where’s mine?” she cried non-stop. The other mom’s watched me with empathy. The party continued with Annie’s joyous squeals, while I kept trying to explain to my two-year old about how birthdays work. She would have her turn on her birthday but she was inconsolable, as you can see in the picture. Another rough day in the life of small children. I had three at the time and we all lived but only I remembered to tell it.