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Meet me – The Second Baby


Image Source : Cafemom.com

This is me. The second baby. Ah, yes. I am all too familiar with this term now. And it’s been what? Just five months! Well, it all began even before I made the grand entrance. I was a pretty good baby for 9 months despite the darkness. I must have been very good for my mom was always propped up with her laptop.

Wow, even my mighty kicks couldn’t distract her from putting away the damn thing. Apparently, she listened to ‘Gayatri mantra’ on repeat mode when she carried my brother. And when I lived amidst fluid and cells, she heard English pop. Wait, don’t I deserve to get any sanskars (values)? But I’ll tell you all about Chainsmokers and Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Tsk, tsk. Not what a baby should be talking about!

Moving on. But I did give a couple of false alarms before arriving that made my mom wonder if I was ever going to make my way out. But I did and it wasn’t dramatic like my brother’s arrival. Or, may be its something to do with being the second baby. Everybody knows what it’s going to be like except of course me because it’s my first time on earth. I don’t think my mom gets this because she doesn’t pick me the second I cry. She knows that this is what babies do to get moms to give them attention. Well, yes that’s true. I am crying because that’s what I want. And also, because it’s my basic right to demand tiny bit of consideration.

Life as a second baby is no easier though I’ve heard people telling my mom that it’s usually easy the second time. Not for me though. While my brother was subjected to on-demand attention and golden silence sleep-time, I usually sleep through loud arguments between my mother and brother. In fact, most of my meals are in a war-zone. Not a pretty sight!

See, I am that good. I have actually been a good sleeper too. So much that my mother would forget my existence and spend all her extra time caring for my brother because he’s the one that needs to be assured that my arrival doesn’t mean that he gets less love from our parents. Duh, then what’s all the talk about sharing? We get to share EVERYTHING. So, I don’t know what my mom is trying to convince him about because it’s true that it isn’t just him anymore.

So, I was tired of being the easy baby because I am girl. I have no idea what that means. Am I easy because I am the second or the tags that come with being a girl? On impulse, I decided to give my mom a few sleepless nights so she’d have some stories to talk about me after I grew up. But I already know, there will be more to talk about my brother.

My brother. He does love me I guess but it’s just that his love is very fierce and hard that it confuses me if it’s something beyond love. But for my baby brain, it’s simply hard to comprehend at this time. Perhaps, he is just jealous that I stole mom from him right after I came from the hospital.

I hope we could be friends someday. But trucks and cars might not be my forte though those are my only toys right now because mom says the house is already full of toys and she won’t be getting new ones for couple of years. No new toys, no extra attention, no big brand diapers, and a lot of hand-me-downs.

The perils of being second!  


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