What I've Been Waiting For...

Having our girls four years apart has had many perks: Ella is in pre-school most mornings, she is old enough to be helpful and attentive to Samantha, and because Samantha is not a threat to her space and toys (yet) she hasn’t had the adjustment that comes with having a younger sibling. However, I have worried about whether they will truly play together. Will their interests and attention spans be too far apart? Will Ella spurn Samantha as the pesky , follower, little sister? I suspect we will have periods where both of these will ring true, but over the past week, they have started to play together. And not five minutes of playing where Ella waves a toy in front of Samantha’s face, but rather down-on-the-floor playing with toys for as long as 30 minutes. Sometimes Ella plays directly with Samantha—building her towers and so forth, and sometimes they both play with their own things, but are occupied longer because they’re content there is another person in the room keeping them company. Ah…serenity.

Perhaps it’s our own fault, but Ella has always been a very attention-needy child—I suspect common in most first-born children. We have gone through long stretches where Ella has no interest in her toys. She wants another human to read with, go outside, do puzzles or play a game with. I of course can accommodate her some of the time, but when I can’t, I have a bored child at my heels. Recently, Ella has turned a corner in this regard. I think partly because she is reading, which is a new-found interest and also because her imagination has taken a recent leap. Her stories and make-believe are much more intricate. In addition, having Ella’s friends over is a much more enjoyable experience. When we have friends over after school, I don’t have to think of things to keep them happy and entertained. The girls prefer to go off and play by themselves and appear once in awhile to ask for help with a dress-up outfit or to stick their fingers in the cookie dough.

Don’t get me wrong…I still spend a huge portion of my time being the entertainment, but it feels good to get a break every now and then. I’ve decided my new favorite game is re-enacting Cinderella. Ella is obviously Cinderella and I float between roles of a mouse, the mean stepmother and fairy godmother. I lingered in the stepmother role this evening—Cinder”Ella” mopped my kitchen floor, dusted the main floor furniture, and put away the toys of her stepsister (Samantha) while Prince Charming (Brian) did the dishes. Now that’s a fairy-tale I can live with.