Sweet Strawberry

Strawberry came into my room the other night and tearfully said, "I feel like I get the least amount of attention in our family."  :(  Poor girl.  It's tough being the oldest.  She doesn't remember when she was an only child and we spent all of our time playing with her and cuddling her.  And now, I sit there and give the younger girls a bath and play with them in the tub, but she has do all that herself.  She has to get her own breakfast.  She has to spend more time at school.  It's not fair!

It really made me sad that she said that because one of the best things about her growing up is that I have loved getting to know her better.  We spend a lot of time talking and she is so fun and interesting and is such a deep thinker.  Here we've been building a great relationship, but she feels neglected.  It has been especially hard on her the past two months with Daddy across the country.  I've had to rely on her more than usual and I can't focus on her as much, but I thought that I was still doing a good job making time for her.  Being a parent is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be.  I always just thought my parents had it all figured out and that it was just something you developed as you got older.  Not so easy after all.

Strawberry really is an amazing little girl.  I do think that she knows that I believe that and love her with all my heart.  The struggles she comes to me with show me that she is so compassionate and smart.  My daughters are all so precious to me and I love to see their differences and similarities.  Strawberry definitely brings a sweetness to our family.  I'm crazy about this girl.