For four and a half years it was just me, my wife and our daughter, Riley. Then, Grace came along and expanded our little family. Grace has always lived in a home that she shared with her older sister. Riley remembers life without her younger sister, Grace. My wife and I remember life with just one daughter, but Grace has never experienced life as an only child.
There have been times when Riley has been gone for the weekend or for sleepovers, but nothing more than a couple of days...that is until two days ago. Riley had the opportunity to go on a spring break cruise with a couple of girlfriends and another family. She'll be gone for eleven days...a week and a half, with no Riley!
It's the first time that Grace has had me and her mom just to herself for this long. I see this as a great opportunity for our daughter to get undivided attention from her parents, attention that she really hasn't had the opportunity to experience ever in her life.
But, instead of being delighted at the possibilities, Grace at first only saw that her sister was gone. She didn't know to be excited about being an only child for a week and a half, because since she'd never experienced it before, she didn't know what she was missing. She only knew she missed her big sis.
On the first night she longingly went through videos of her and her sister. She grinned ear to ear, when she got a text from Riley. When her sister called, she rushed to the phone to join the conversation.
But, my wife and I are still giving her the only-child treatment, and I think Grace is really starting to dig it. So far one morning she and I watched a Harry Potter movie we hadn't seen yet. As I write this, she and her mom are in the kitchen making salsa and guacamole for our Mexican Dinner Bar tonight. We'll be heading to Frozen Yogurt in a couple of nights and are going to the movies later this week.
Grace still misses her sister, but she's starting to appreciate having Mom and Dad to herself with no teen interruptions. She's getting a taste of what life will be like in a year and a half, when Riley will head off to college...and so are we.
image courtesy of https://pixabay.com/en/only-child-autism-toys-shadow-723822/
There have been times when Riley has been gone for the weekend or for sleepovers, but nothing more than a couple of days...that is until two days ago. Riley had the opportunity to go on a spring break cruise with a couple of girlfriends and another family. She'll be gone for eleven days...a week and a half, with no Riley!
It's the first time that Grace has had me and her mom just to herself for this long. I see this as a great opportunity for our daughter to get undivided attention from her parents, attention that she really hasn't had the opportunity to experience ever in her life.
But, instead of being delighted at the possibilities, Grace at first only saw that her sister was gone. She didn't know to be excited about being an only child for a week and a half, because since she'd never experienced it before, she didn't know what she was missing. She only knew she missed her big sis.
On the first night she longingly went through videos of her and her sister. She grinned ear to ear, when she got a text from Riley. When her sister called, she rushed to the phone to join the conversation.
But, my wife and I are still giving her the only-child treatment, and I think Grace is really starting to dig it. So far one morning she and I watched a Harry Potter movie we hadn't seen yet. As I write this, she and her mom are in the kitchen making salsa and guacamole for our Mexican Dinner Bar tonight. We'll be heading to Frozen Yogurt in a couple of nights and are going to the movies later this week.
Grace still misses her sister, but she's starting to appreciate having Mom and Dad to herself with no teen interruptions. She's getting a taste of what life will be like in a year and a half, when Riley will head off to college...and so are we.
image courtesy of https://pixabay.com/en/only-child-autism-toys-shadow-723822/
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