I've got about 20 minutes left of peace before it'll be time to wake the monsters and get them ready for the parade. Does it make me a terrible parent that both Lena and Anne have been coughing almost non-stop for the past two days and I'm still going to take them anyway? Eh, even if it does, I'm going to justify it and say that they need some fresh air...
Last night at tuck in time, competition reared its ugly head. Even though James and I have been living together for a year, Anne still has some jealousy issues about Lena getting to be with her dad everyday when she doesn't. They're getting better about it for sure, but it still pops up every now and again. When we first started cohabiting any time Lena would get near him, Anne would rush over and climb up into his lap to block any access she might have. Since he's not Lena's dad she really doesn't take much note of these things.
We always make it a point to tell the girls that we love them equally and no one child is more special than the other. We don't treat them any differently either. They're both equally snuggled and equally yelled at. Especially because they're usually in cahoots together when trouble arises. Last night they put on their bathing suits and hopped in the tub together. They ended up flooding the bathroom and breaking the sink "to save Willie" and both got a decent piece of my mind.
After cleaning up their self made pool, we had them get into jammies and climb in bed. Lena takes eons to get situated, which I'm pretty certain is just a stall tactic. She has to fluff all of her pillows, arrange her stuffed animals, and the blankets have to be just perfect before she'll actually lay down. As she's doing this nightly dramatic routine, Anne is complaining about getting the first kisses. We alternate between the two girls typically to make sure that neither one of them if favored over the other. Anne had first kisses the night before so it was Lena's turn.
Anne was having NONE of that. There was a lot of whining and pouting because she felt she should always get first kisses on the weekend because Lena's gets to live with us and she doesn't. Again I had to explain that we love them equally, but I highly doubt that in Anne's 7 year old mind that's enough. She's just one of those kids where she has to be the center of attention all the time or her world is just not right. I'm sure that stems a lot from the fact that she has four step siblings at her mother's house and our other one, Paige. She's the last in that bunch of 6 kids and Paige says it's a constant competition there for attention too.
Thankfully, Lena is heading into those pre-teen years and is more understanding to her "little sister." She told us to go ahead and give Anne first kisses. At first I thought that was mighty big of her. We proceeded to give kisses and then Lena chimes in with...
"My kisses are better anyways, they have germs!"
Ummmm... There goes the glimpse of maturity. In 2 seconds she proved that's she's still just a kid. Such as life I suppose.
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