Playing Favorites

As most of you know, I was an only child until I was 15 years old.  As a kid, when my friends wrestled or fought with their siblings I would get uncomfortable, nervously laugh or just vacate the scene.  Because my sister and I are this far apart in age, it makes sense to me that I am the obvious oldest favorite and Madeline is the favorite of the next generation.  Our upbringing and experiences are literally so different that it is too difficult to compare.  I have never really experienced sibling rivalry, I have never had to share and I still get nervous when people argue with their siblings.

So, this two kid thing is going to be something brand new for me.  My mom put it well the other day when she said that she goes back and forth feeling sad that Samantha will never have anything that is only her's anymore and upset that Carina only gets hand me downs that belonged to Samantha.

My wrestling with this feeling has clearly manifested itself in spending money.  One day I am feeling bad that Carina's room has nothing unique for her.  That resulted in my latest purchase from Zulily:

Then the following week I felt horrible that Samantha doesn't have much left in her room anymore because it has all been moved to Carina's room.  That resulted in yet another purchase from Etsy which still needs to be framed:

We have packages showing up every day, my husband is concerned.  These two girls have got it made before Carina is even born, Mom is a big sucker!