THE AGONY OF BEING THE FIRST CHILD

I had jumped with Joy when mom told me that I was going to get a little sister. Little did I know that the love and attention that I got till now was going to be divided. A hundred times I would have told my sister that we picked her up from dustbin and she did not belong to the family. 😈

I could express my resentment when my sister got more love than me. And so the parents made up for it, in some way or the other. But now that I am a parent with the first child of different species, I am experiencing the whole past again.

In the beginning of the parenting journey we had inkling of an idea that jealousy was ought to seep in and so we were ready with a plan. We decided that as the baby would need me more initially, the dad would prioritize the dog. The plan worked. The father - son duo came so close in that period that they even developed a secret sign language. I was relieved that my elder one was big enough, not to need me.

Initially, Limo understood that A needed more attention and care and he allowed me to care for A before him. But now as A is in his terrible twos with demands soaring sky, I notice changes in my fur child too. He demands too! And he won't settle for later.

He wants me to make his meals and won't sleep in grandparents room. We will sometimes even bury himself awkwardly in the tiny space between me and A, to snuggle up with me. He never loved long drives that much but now when A is ready with the car keys, Limo is already near the car ready to pounce in. When I play hide and seek with A, Limo will nudge me to play the same with him too. At the very same time! When I whip up a treat for A, Limo will want the same even if he had never bothered to sniff the same treat in the past.

He wants an equal share of me. He puts it loud and clear. Children young or old, two-legged or four-legged, they need their mothers. So now as we are tending to a toddler in his terrible two, we are also dealing with a demanding daschie.

P. S. That makes our park visits lot more fun.
For others, I mean.