Sibling Rivalry

Picture this...you are pregnant with your third child.  You currently have a son and a daughter.  This baby will obviously be either a boy or a girl and current children are fighting over whether they want a new brother or sister.  You know that one of them will be disappointed, but really hope that they grow to love their new sibling and don't actually move out to live with their grandparents the way they have threatened.

This is the situation that I was faced with while pregnant with my third child.  My daughter wanted a sister in the worst way.  My son said that he was moving out if the baby ended up being a girl.  He could not even imagine another girl in the family considering all of his cousins are girls and he already had a lovely, yet annoying (in his words) sister.  I really did worry about his reaction if this baby was to be a girl since he seemed so serious.  Plus, I figured that my daughter, who is the younger of the two, would just be so happy to have a baby around that she really would not be upset with the sex of the baby.  Secretly, both my husband and I had a feeling that this was going to be a boy anyway.  In my ever so logical mind, I thought that a little brother would work out really well because that would make my middle child the only girl and that would lighten the jealousy a bit.

On the day of delivery, we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL little......girl!  We were all a little bit shocked to tell you the truth.  I was feeling like it would be a boy and was being told by every person I knew (and did not know) that I was carrying like I would have a boy.  We had settled on a boy's name, but really never took girl names seriously.

At first, my daughter was thrilled to have a baby sister and I was pleasantly surprised at how my son took the news.  He fell in love with the baby just like the rest of us had.  He took on the role of the protective big brother right away.  My daughter on the other hand began to have jealousy issues about 3 minutes after bringing the baby home.  She has said things like "your eyes are always on her and never on me" and " you like her more".  I really did not think that she would react this way to a new baby sister!

My husband and I are both the oldest children and each of us have younger brothers.  While I guess you could say we each have had our own amount of sibling rivalry in our lives (mom and dad, if you are reading this I know you are chuckling!)  it is nothing like what I am experiencing with my two daughters.  Many have told me that this is completely normal considering her their ages, but I do worry about what this will be like in the future.  I have heard so much about "middle child syndrome" and birth order.  However, I really just hope and pray that these two girls become good friends.  I know that I prayed for a sister as a child (I love you little brother!!) and still find myself jealous of those who have a sister.  I guess time will tell!