The Middle

It's hard being "the middle."  I know.  I am "the middle" - stuck between two brothers.

It seems to be particularly hard for daughter #2, Ella.  She's 6.  There are several factors involved here.  First of all, she would like the privileges of daughter #1 (who is 9), but the pampering of daughter #3 (who is 3).  Not that there is much pampering going on in my house...

Also, she's a tall 6 year old, she is uber smart, and she's been talking in complete sentences with an astounding vocabulary since she was about 3 months old.  OK, maybe not 3 months old, but she did start talking clearly and intelligently long before most kids do.  So, I think we all "forget" that she's just 6 - especially since she is almost the same size as her big sister.  (Well, that makes her sound freakishly tall.  She's not, her sister is just short.)

Several times a day, she cries.  Her big sister has an incredibly annoying way of saying "Ella" and her little sister likes to tell her she doesn't love her.  She also is fearless and throws her body around resulting in bumps and bruises that could have been avoided.  And then there are the battles of will...

But yesterday, something beautiful happened...

I had asked her to take something over to the neighbor's house for me.  Immediately, little sister piped up that SHE wanted to do that.  And Ella, so contrary to her nature, let her!  And went along as the voice of explanation on why this thing was going to the neighbor.  She was the "big kid" that I keep asking her to be in these situations.

It felt like a break through...

And then, when they got back from the neighbor's, the fighting started and she ended up in the kitchen with me crying about the recent injustice done by her sisters... (they wouldn't let her dance how she wanted to).

But it was a glimpse of progress... and it was beautiful.