A long long time ago back when Ben and I were pregnant with Connor we talked about how no matter how many kids we ended up being blessed with, we would want to make extra sure that our youngest kid wasn't spoiled rotten. We said things like "we'll have to be extra tough on them" and "whatever the rules are for our first kid, those same rules should apply to our last kid!" It should be noted that this was roughly the same point in time where we agreed to never have a portable DVD in our car, and never let our kids watch more than a half an hour of TV every day, and always keep things like freezer pops out of our house. Maybe we were a bit idealistic. But just a bit.
Eight pregnancies and four kiddos later, we have long since abandoned most of our first time parent idealism. Portable DVD players? We have two sets so each kid can have a screen. Half an hour of TV? They've usually watched that much before I even get to breakfast. Freezer pops? The kids basically live on them in the summertime.
Still, with each child born, each change in our determination to be strict parents, each relaxing of our methods, we still held fast that we wouldn't spoil our youngest child. We'd try extra hard to be stern with him or her. To be tough. To keep them from being rotten.
Four years ago we had Violet. We suspected that she might be our youngest kiddo - and so we reminded ourselves as we kissed her sweet baby face that we were NOT going to spoil her rotten. We WEREN'T going to laugh when she was sassy and think it was cute. We WERE going to hold her to the same standards as the rest of the kids. We were. Seriously.
But then we brought her home and well....the rest is youngest child history. It isn't like we've totally spoiled her rotten - but she definitely gets away with things that her siblings never would have. And she knows it.
She's a clever girl though. She has made her preference for me totally clear while also insisting that she loves us both equally. She is a giver of many hugs, as sweet as sugar in one minute, and as fierce as a tiger when she doesn't get what she wants. She is a genuine goof ball, has a great giggle, and she is 100% aware of the fact that she has us totally wrapped around her little tiny finger.
Happy 4th birthday, Miss Violet! We love you so much and are learning to just be okay with the fact that you are totally a spoiled kiddo.
