One on One

I have been fortunate lately to have had a few different opportunities to spend some one on one time with  my two little guys. Parents with one child, will not understand this. Maybe even parents of two will still have a hard time grasping this. But when you have more than two kids, one on one time is precious and rare. I remember the two years I had with Big Brother before the Middle Man made his appearance, I took him everywhere with me, all of the time, we played, we painted, we swam, we walked, I hung off every little word he managed to say, the sun literally rose and set on my perfect little singleton.
When Middle Man came, I still made sure I had my alone time with Big Brother. I was used to being partnered up with him and I missed him terribly if I wasn’t with him. I felt like I was missing something if I went shopping alone, I panicked if I looked in my rear view mirror and saw an empty seat. I loved hanging out with my  buddy so if I was lucky enough to leave the house on a Saturday afternoon while Dad had the baby, I often took him with me for company.
By the time Little Buddy came to be part of our family, I was tired and frazzled most of the time, feeling very outnumbered and dreamed of alone time – me time! I needed to get away from all the kidlets and breathe. So most of my time with the babies, have been as a family.
Sometimes we see our kids as pairs, or in my case- a set and we forget that they are individuals. I think more so when they are of the same sex. They share the same room, they wear the same clothes, they like the same toys – they are the same right??? nope.
I have really enjoyed my one on one time with the little boys lately, it wasn’t planned that way, it just fell into place and it has really opened my eyes. I will now make a conscience effort to do this more often. I had two years to get to know my big boy, I don’t want to miss out on my little guys first years either, I need to get to know them too. They grow and change everyday. It will all be gone in a flash. And they really are different when they are away from their siblings. Middle Man spends a lot of time having temper tantrums and meltdowns throughout the day, but get him alone, where  he doesn’t have to fight for you attention or his favourite toy and he is a really sweet, calm, good natured kid. And out shopping with Little Buddy yesterday made me want to cry he was so good, even though he missed his nap and was long overdue for a bottle, he still smiled his little heart out at all the salesladies!
I love my boys! All my boys, together and alone!