The Second Born Blues

There's something to be said about birth order...I never really bought into the whole birth order theories, but it sure plays out in our little family. How much of it is their innate personality and how much is that we treat them differently? I don't know, but I do see those first born traits in our first born. She's the classic overachiever, type A personality. I signed her up for Children's Choir. She just turned 6 so she barely meets the age requirement. She announced to me that she asked to do a solo. Asked to do a solo? Is this my child? Well, she got her solo and announced to me (when I complimented her with reluctance in my voice), "Mom, I can handle it". She will handle it, I have no doubts. Then she came home from Sparks with the announcement that she had won the Cookie Poster Contest. Her poster has been submitted to the Girl Guide's Provincial Contest. We all congratulated her on her achievement. Then there's school, "Mom, my teacher showed my work to the class....it was the best". I'm so happy for Maddie, but I know she's going to experience disappointment one of these days. She wont't always come out on top and she's not getting a lot of practice with that. I need to prepare her for the inevitable day she comes out last. Meanwhile, my little wide eyed four year old loooks on with admiration for her big sister. There's a little bit of worry in her expression. I can read her thoughts, "Will I be able to keep up?" "Can I do all this?" " What is expected of me?" I affirm her uniqueness all the time. I want her to be her own person and not try to keep up. The hard thing for her is that she has to follow directly in Maddie's footsteps, being only one grade behind. With some advice from family, I think I've decided to enroll her in something completely different. She loves moving to music and is actually quite good at it, so I'm going to go the dance route with her. She's excited about theprospect and Maddie has her nose a little out of joint. "No fair, I want to dance too." But I'm going to hold my ground and let my little second born be good at something her big sister can't do. Maddie can dance later if she still has an interest. I hope it's a wise decision. Parenting calls for wisdom constantly. When I'm praying for us as parents, it's what I ask for.