Ella: Tonight you made me so mad I didn't know whether to shout or laugh. I'm pretty sure I told you to "cut the shit" and go to sleep. Mercifully, though you often repeat things I say, you never repeat curse words. It was a simple matter of you not going to bed when you should have. This is, admittedly, not totally out of the ordinary. What was exceptionally maddening tonight is the manner in which you defied me: like an adult pretending to be a child not knowing any better. I'd ask you to lay down; you'd lay down...sideways. I'd ask you not to hang your arms over your bunk; you'd look me in the eye as you inched your hands ever closer. I'd ask you to cease your singing; you'd continue the song in a whisper. Maddening. And fully aware of it.
Now, here's why it's worth writing about: You are officially no longer an only child and I get that this can suck for you at times. Your new sister will be getting her own blog post along side this one, but I thought it only fair that you get one all to yourself about the issue...it was your blog first, after all! That might sound like an odd reason, but I wanted to share with you that I know your pain: I am a former "only child" myself! Your little regression into
The fact is, this is the last stop for the gravy train. Your time of enjoying the undivided helicoptering attention of both your parents is gone...never to return. From now on, you are going to be "the example," and expected to be "mature" and be a "good role model" for your sister because she "doesn't know better." If that sounds like a lot of work, it is. But please take a moment (and I hope it's not too far into your development that you read this) to see this work as a golden opportunity as well!
What opportunity? The opportunity to make them look bad by comparison. This is your ace in the hole. Your younger sibling is always going to be the baby of the family and they will use that against you every chance they get. You have to play to your strengths and this, my dear, is where you can play your strongest game.
Carrots? Get ON those things. Eat them faster and in greater volume than any one of us. Imagine the praise and adulation you will receive. "She is SO grown up...look at how well SHE eats!"
Bed time? No biggie! You were just putting the finishing touches on that digital 3D model of the Horse-Head Nebula but you can't fight the fact that rest is necessary for solid brain development.
Listening skills? Of COURSE it would be more fun to keep on practicing your steps for the lead in
La Bayadere, but Dad did say it was time to come in and practice your Calculus again. You'd hate to mess up your derivation!
Careers? Yeah, we know it was hard to choose between reversing climate change to save the polar bears and negotiating the successful entry of Canada to the European Union. We also know why you had to go ahead and do both. We understand.
With this approach, you get the best of both worlds: you get to show up the "bundle of joy" who has stolen your limelight AND you get to not have a 220 pound man losing his mind because you swallowed the Pinkie Pie toothpaste again. It's Win-Win.
Your sibling can be one of your closest friends. You will grow up together, have stupid inside jokes that are impossible to articulate to anyone else (I'd give you an example but, you know, it's hard to articulate one), you will routinely experience common loathing of and laughter at the expense of your clueless parents. But now is the time to change your game from being the only one in town to being the best one in town. Because, you know...you aren't getting any younger! ;)
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May 7, 2025 Edit
Hello, Twilight Sparkle! This is a brief edit just to add something cute that I can't believe I didn't add before. This is the first picture of you meeting your sister. The moment we took this picture, we had my glasses on you, so we laughed and said, "you look like a Hipster! A Hipster with a SISTER!" We thought we were so funny! And, at the time, so did you!
I am happy to say, now that you can read this blog, that not only are you an amazing big sister, you are also not even CLOSE to being a Hipster. You're waaaay cooler.
