my son is a middle child.
or, i guess, more than a middle child…he’s the child who comes behind Emily. Emily loves the spotlight. She needs the spotlight. She requires so much of our time. She demands that things run her way. She notices if Josh gets anything that she doesn’t.
Josh is completely oblivious. He enjoys our attention, but he never demands it. He voices his opinion that he’d rather watch Ghostbusters instead of Princess Diaries 2…but when Emily has a complete mental breakdown, Josh will willingly (mostly) go and play xbox or have a light saber fight instead. Emily would NEVER. Emily would cry and scream and yell until she got either sent to her room or got her way.
oh, yes, i did have an actual point to this little Emily/Josh comparison.
Emily loves school. It’s a place where she thrives. (whatever, who are we kidding…Emily thrives in everything she does. hip hop. school. swimming.) She empties her backpack in front of me the second i walk through the door and demads that we do homework together and read together. I have to admit, i enjoy watching her do so well in school. she reads beautifully, in both english and hebrew. and i’ve loved watching the progression of her word recognizing to sounding out letters to actual reading.
When i ask Josh about school, he never has much to say. How was school? "good" What did you do? "stuff" What kind of stuff? "i don’t remember"
but yesterday, he sat down with the husband.
and he read him a book.
an entire book.
my son can read.
and i had no idea.
while we weren’t looking, the boy taught himself to read.
You gotta love the kid who quietly accomplishes things under your nose only to surprise you with what he is capable of. The strong, silent type your Josh.
That’s so amazing when you realize your kids can do something new!Yeh Josh! Reading is an excellent thing!
I’m 1st born & was a lot like Emily, sometimes I feel like my sister still secretly resents me for it. She is very adamant about people not having 3 kids – lol, severe middle child syndrome. At least Josh is the only boy so that does account for something, we were 3 girls so imagine the competition.
My little brother did this too- it just took our breath away! Isn’t it just awesome what a kid can do?
How exciting for you and Josh, Ali. It’s so true that your first captures the spotlight. I watched tonight at storytime as my son conceded to his older sister’s demands for her choice in story again. He’s getting better at speaking his mind though.
oh thats so great Ali!what a wonderful surprise for you.its amazing to watch them learn new things.and each child is so different.
that’s amazing. i love the look on daniella’s face when she realizes that the letters form a word she knows. yitzy, i think will teach himself to read. he is very attentive when daniella is doing her thing.
Oh wow! How touching is that! Tears! I think my monkey’s going to be a lot like Emily! And, that’s awesome. I think my little guy (the rascal?) is going to be like Joshi. And, that’s awesome, too! 😉
That’s amazing!!!!
I have to admit, your Josh/Emily comparison is a lot like my sister and I – with me playing the role of Emily. (Except the hip hop part since I can’t dance)
super Josh!
That’s awesome!!
Yay for Josh! That is awesome!