Oh so quiet

This must be what it was like when Kid One was a baby.


It’s quiet in the house.

There’s no TV, no Wii or Playstation, no texts pinging back and forth. I can hear the birds in the tree outside my window.

Today is the first day of school for Kid One and Kid Two. Big T and I (and now Baby Three) both went to drop them off, but there’s no more going in with them and seeing their teach and helping them find their desks.

Kid One – now in seventh grade – hopped out of the car almost as soon as it was in park and said she see us after school. Kid Two and walked to the door fourth grade enters, and I waited until the bell rang to make sure he got all his school supplies inside. Then I said hello to a few parents and went back to meet Big T and Baby Three in the car and we stopped for a cup of coffee on the way home.

When Kid One was this age, the end of summer didn’t mean any more than a change in the weather. No one was going back to school.

When Kid Two was this age, it was a big, big change for him – his big sister was suddenly gone all day.

For Baby Three, it’s more complicated. Her big sibs are often gone, even in the summer, and there were plenty of summer days when both were at camp, although there were also lots of days when one or both was home.

When the are “home,” it often means that we are all on the move. Yesterday Baby Three and I took Kid Two for his back-to-school haircut, then took him to a hockey conditioning session.

That’s another change; when Kid One was a baby, I don’t think I ever would have taken her from the warm summer air to spend an hour in a chilly ice rink. With Baby Three, I just brought some fleece pjs to put on her while Kid Two suited up, then held her close to me in a sling so she wouldn’t get cold.

Everyone talks about how parents are so much more careful with first children, sterilizing pacifiers and whatnot. That’s true, to an extent. I don’t think I would have been so calm removing dog toys from Kid One’s mouth as I am with Baby Three (and gently reminding Kid Two that everything goes in her mouth, so please don’t give her the dog toys).

But for the bonus baby, life is much busier than for first children or even those whose siblings are still young. In some ways, I think it is also richer.