Parenting Different Personalities And Ages

This may not be a super informative post, but perhaps some others are in the same boat and we can commiserate.

I have two young ladies in my house who are VERY different, in many ways.  And yet... they are definitely sisters.  They look like carbon copies.  If we hold up pictures of my oldest at the same age next to my youngest's pictures, you can't tell them apart.  When my youngest speaks, I get flashbacks to her sister's adorable little voice and squeals at that age.

Yin and Yang.

They are 7-1/2 years apart in age for starters.  That's enough to make a large distinction between them.  But in personality, we are starting to see differences in fundamental ways.

My oldest is the bull-headed one, a ball of social fireworks.  She was born shortly before the 4th of July and it SHOWS (in fact she was due right after the 4th but decided to make a dramatic early entrance)!  She always is convinced that she is right, even when she's not.  And she'll stick to her guns until she gets tired of the standoff.  We have gone DAYS before she would finally admit her fault and apologize.  Her mind is always going a-mile-a-minute, and that can cause intense creativity or an absolute disaster.  Yet there's this other side to her that is incredibly caring and soft.  If you are one of her favorite people, she will fall all over herself to ensure that you are okay if you appear hurt or sad.  She feels her emotions SO deeply and wears her heart on her sleeve constantly.  She's going to be something distinguished with that interesting cocktail of character traits!  She is so much like her daddy it's mind boggling.  (Though he would claim she is so much more like me)

My youngest is only 2 but even in the last four months since her birthday, we have watched her language abilities EXPLODE and that means we are seeing her express herself much more.  I mean, it shouldn't be surprising but it IS!  She has her moments like all 2-year-olds when she doesn't know how she feels or what she wants, and all we can do is let her have her cry about it.  I can't say that I blame her.  I have plenty of those days myself!  Most of the time, she can tell you all about this and that - shapes, colors, numbers, characters... But what I see in her is the observer.  She loves to talk to us and I hear that among "her peeps" at daycare she will talk if asked, but outside of that in new situations or even around people she doesn't see every day, she hangs back and watches.  She is the shy one, the compliant one.  It takes very little time for her to back down and apologize when she's made a bad choice.  She LOVES her people and wants to show them how much CONSTANTLY! (kisses, hugs, high fives, tickles, pokes, kisses, hugs, high fives, tickles... you get the idea)  She has started recognizing when she's hurt someone and is quickly comforting and hugging.  And I also see the beginnings of a focus-er.  She will sit and watch much of a movie whether a favorite one by herself or something Daddy's watching like sports.  She will work at a little project like building with legos or sorting crayons for increasing amounts of time, even more if sister is leading the way.  She is an organizer.  We are still learning and watching her develop but this little gal is definitely something else.  And I'm happy for that.

Any other parents grateful that your children are different from each other?  I mean, similarities are cute and fun to talk about.  And those are the things over which they will bond.  I see the memes and read the posts often about how so many "first children" were so easy compared to the hyenas, road-runners, and elephants that enter the family later (wink wink).  I feel like our family has the reverse!  We had our wild child first!  That's not to say that younger sister won't have wild times or difficult/stubborn times... she is my little kind-of-red-headed child, after all.  But I'll take these new and different challenges that she will face and that we will face in parenting her.

I sincerely hope that I don't come off as ungrateful for my first-born.  Most definitely not!  Maybe I'm wrong, and we ain't seen nothin' yet from the tiny one.  But boy oh boy, am I ready for the polar opposite child.  BRING IT!  She'll present her own set of challenges, and I'm ready to make space for those in my brain and heart.