My Littlest Caveman - my 'baby' - turned 10 yesterday. That's all three of my kids into double figures. We certainly don't feel young anymore!It feels like we have truly left the 'little kid' stuff behind us now. They are all capable of making their own breakfasts and lunches. They can operate the television, the phone and the computer without any help. They all help with chores around the house, although it sometimes take a bit of
We waited about 5 years after our Cavegirl was born, before deciding to have a third baby (I had a nasty bout of post-natal depression to deal with first). That age gap has had its pros and cons. Sometimes I've wished he was closer in age to his siblings. To start with, the Caveman and I discovered (being just that little bit older when he came along) that having a small child was even more exhausting than we'd remembered!
But also, he has been a little left behind at times, like when the older two reached their teens and lost a bit of interest in his games and toys. That can also be seen now, with them being almost adults. They are into some music and movies that are still inappropriate for his age group. Not that it does them any harm to be mindful of what they watch, listen to or talk about when he's around. I am kind of grateful too, that we don't have any more than two teenagers to deal with at once!
For the most part, the pros do outweigh the cons. He has never (contrary to what so many people were concerned about when we had him) felt like an 'only' child. His big brother and sister have always included him as much as possible. If anything, I feel that having a younger sibling has helped them hang onto their own childhood a little longer, as well as making them more considerate towards other young children. They haven't 'dragged him up' to being older than his age either, if that makes sense. In fact, being the youngest, he's probably been allowed (encouraged even!) to stay little for as long as possible.
The three of them are surprisingly close. Of course, with a nearly 8 year age gap to his older brother, they don't really sit and talk about cars or girls - but they do talk about school and friendships, and play backyard cricket and Xbox games together. He's not about to give advice to his teenage sister about emotional issues either, but when she went through a recent rough patch, he understood enough to hug her when she needed it and cheer her up with his antics.
He really is funny too; we've always referred to him as our little entertainer, although he's quite shy in front of other people.
So, there's no more rocking him to sleep, or holding his grubby little hand to cross the road (although sometimes he still grabs my hand if we're in busy places, and I cherish that!). He does occasionally climb onto my lap for a cuddle (much like a Great Dane would - it's all arms, legs and knees up in my face, but it works).
He's growing up ... and I can live with that x
