When I was starting my junior year of high school, my mom told me something that would change my life forever. There was going to be a new addition to the family and, no, this time it was not a kitten or another pet fish. A baby was to arrive in July, and we had absolutely no idea what to expect.
I was 17 years old and accustomed to being the only girl of my family of all boys. I couldn’t let a baby come in and take away the spoils that came with being the “only.”
This attitude quickly changed, however, when my littlest brother Will was born on July 21, 2013. From the first time I saw his tiny, elephant hat-clad head, I fell absolutely head over heels in love.
As an "old" sister, I got to watch my little spitfire of a brother grow up and become my own little mini-me, as well as one of my best friends. As cheesy as it sounds, having the little monster around all the time truly showed me a different way of looking at life.
But, this is not about to be one of those terribly sweet articles where I talk about how much I've grown as a person in the last three years. With Will's third birthday coming up (excuse me while I cry in a corner, he's too big), I thought it would be a great time to talk about the more comical things I've learned as the way older sister:
The baby is always right.
This is very simple–do not argue unless you absolutely have to. If the baby wants to play with the blue Play-Doh even though the pink is already out, you go and get that blue Play-Doh. If you were in the middle of a really intense episode of "Law and Order" and the baby wants to watch "Little Einsteins" or something equally terrible, you go to the DVR and find an episode of whatever they want that you inevitably have stashed away.
You better do the moves!
Speaking of terrible little kid television programs...
They always want you to do the "moves." If you have little kids around at any point, you know what I mean.
"Now lift your arms up to the sky and say 'blast off!'"
Don't you dare cheap out on the moves–the baby will know, and you will be sorry.
Everything is a mess, all the time.
It is a scientific fact that all children somehow manage to leave a path of destruction wherever they are. If you clean your room at 2 p.m., you can rest assured that there will be any number of things on your floor in about 15 minutes. This includes but is not limited to Legos, Play-Doh, mud, juice, crumbs and pieces of crushed up bugs.
Kids also can't manage to keep themselves clean for more than a little while-- please see the picture above for reference.
Everything takes four times as long to accomplish.
That quick trip to the mall you wanted to make? Better add an extra hour for unloading the stroller, the kicking match to get the kid in the stroller and a few bathroom stops along the way.
Oh, and don't forget to bring extra clothes, shoes, toys and snacks. Seriously. Do not forget them. That's a meltdown waiting to happen.
They will surprise you at every turn.
Whether it be a new thing they learned how to do or a new word they somehow acquired, little ones are ever-changing and always shocking. One second they're cuddly and non- verbal, and the next day they're yelling "big sh*tty in my butt butt" to a family at the dentist.
You truly never know what you're going to get.
They really do grow up too fast.
We hear this all the time, but it really gets put into perspective when you actually watch the "baby" grow up in front of your eyes. The cute little thing that made you fall in love the first time you laid eyes on them will turn into their own little person with a personality and little quirks of their own. It really is an amazing thing to see this all happen.
Will, if you end up reading this someday, don't hate me for being a big cheeseball. Happy birthday, littlest munchkin!
