I'll Have What She's Having

When people find out I have a nine year old and a baby they tend to always say the same thing. "That's quite an age difference," they say. Yeah. It is. I would have liked for Jonah to have a sibling closer to his own age but that's just how things worked out. Plus that large of an age gap will certainly have it's advantages I have thought. At least I don't have to worry about the kids fighting constantly over toys or each other's belongings which always seems to be the big complaint I hear from parents with two kids very close in age. This was true when Caroline was very small but it is slowly starting to change.

Once Caroline started to crawl and grab things she started reaching for her big brother's things. This really didn't surprise me. Babies always want what they aren't supposed to have. I had started telling Jonah while I was still pregnant that he would have to keep his things put away out of the baby's reach.


What has surprised me is how Jonah wants to play with Caroline's things. We brought each of the kids back a present from a trip we took to Gatlinburg. We got Jonah a toy pistol and Caroline a toy drum. Caroline just wanted to play with the toy pistol. Jonah wanted to play with Caroline's drum but didn't want her to play with the pistol. We had to explain to Jonah that he had to share his things if he wanted to play with her things. And before we knew it they were fighting over each other's stuff!


I've also been surprised at how the dogs have gotten involved in all of this. The dogs want what Caroline has. And she's usually happy to offer.


But also Caroline wants what the dogs have. Dog food, bones, pigs ears, whatever.

What has surprised me the most is David. He wants to play with the kids stuff. And he wants me to keep the kids away until he's done with his "project." Geez! Come on now!