As promised, I took Max for a walk to the park yesterday before we picked Liam up from school, and I realized that it was most likely the first time Max had ever gone to the park by himself. I mean, of course I was there, but that's just not the same as having a big brother there to direct the play and keep things fun. I'm pretty sure the visit was a big disappointment to Max. He kept looking around as if to say, "Okay, I went down the slide. What am I supposed to do now?"
We took Liam to the park plenty of times before Max was born, and after Max was born but before he was big enough to actually play at the park instead of just sit in the stroller and watch. And it never seemed like Liam had any trouble at all finding ways to entertain himself. I guess it really illustrated for me the difference between first- and second-born. Max did mostly the same stuff he'd done at the same park the day before, including jumping off the bottom of the slide into the pit of mud, but without his brother there to whoop and holler with him and egg him on (a process that definitely works both ways these days) there was just something missing.
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I just took Sadie to the park alone the other day, though she probably gets to go alone more often than Max does since E is in school all day. She just went off and did her own thing. But she tends to be that kind of kid. Plus, her sister is way bossy and doesn't always play with her anyway. I think Sadie must feel some relief when Ella is not around, though she claims she misses her dearly....
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