Elder child guilt

Sometimes I feel terribly guilty because G is so easy to like---he just grins and smiles at everything. He doesn't say "No" or "Now" or dawdle when I'm trying to get out of the house to get errands done--all of the things his sister does with great ease and often.

I sometimes catch myself fussing at her and then making lovey-dovey noises with G, and I understand why she is sometimes really bummed when he wakes from his nap and it is no longer "Mommy and N" time.

But even though she is more challenging, it gets awfully lonely when it is just me and G because he doesn't talk or offer unusual insights into the world. It is so quiet and boring when N is at school. G doesn't make up strange games or change the name of his teddy bear 5,000 times a day or say, "Count with me" so he can learn his numbers up to 100.

I'm really glad I have both of them because they remind me of what is so cute and annoying about the different stages of childhood.