Sowing the Seeds of Love

Curfew? What curfew?  When you are out partying with mom, there is no deadline for fun.

Tonight my oldest daughter and I went to DC where we listened to Lauris Vidal, Andy Zipf, and Matt Butcher perform to an intimate gathering of maybe 20 people.  What an opportunity for my daughter to experience first hand these talented singer songwriters!

Andy and Lauris wowing us

On our way down to the concert, I told her how special being the oldest is.  Realizing that she works a lot to keep the little ones in order for me by bathing them, babysitting them and cleaning up after them, she probably doesn't notice the advantages to being first.

The very nature of being the oldest allows more years for a relationship with kin.  As the youngest, I don't have the list of shared experiences with relatives that my older siblings do.  My limited exposure reduced my opportunities to know them as well because, frankly, some of them died before I was born.

Coming before I was overwhelmed with my adorable brood, I did a lot more activities with my first.  When she was an infant, I didn't stop my youthful lifestyle. She came everywhere with me.  Swaddled and content, she slept to wee hours of the morning at parties.

As she grew, we regularly visited the playgrounds and attended outside classes.  For about 3 hours each day, I read to her. And now as a tween, she's been to way more concerts then I attended at her same age.

Do you think I can drag 5 kids around to parties or concerts?  Do you think we leave the house unless absolutely necessary? Do you think I have that kind of time to read to my kids?

The oldest may have more individual mom-time and unique opportunities that the young ones will never experience.  But as a youngest, I know that the one-on-one time invested in my oldest siblings was reaped 100 fold by influence they had on me.