I have heard it oh-so-many times. The second child gets the shaft. My own younger sister holds a grudge for signifiantly less memorabilia in her baby scrapbook. First time parents will note every major milestone their new baby makes (and a bunch of the insignificant moments). They will send out a birth announcement with her newborn portrait and have professional photos taken every six months thereafter to measure her growth and developing cuteness. They'll video family events on a regular basis capturing her original personality and her voice as she learns to talk. And then they'll have all the photos archived in scrapbooks and make DVDs of her greatest hits. Then, along comes baby number two, all hell breaks loose, and Mommy finally remembers her second kid's first portrait when he brings home the order form from school picture day.
Well, this is not going to be me. For starters, Cavan has already gotten screwed in the memorabilia department. Her first portrait was taken at 11 months, and it only happened because my sister arranged for the sitting. She's 2.5 years old, and it is still her only professional photo. I do, however, have a scrapbook. Don't get your hopes up: it is still blank. I can say that we have taken multiple videos, but the tapes still reside in the camera bag (yes, tapes. We have not transitioned to digital yet). But before you think I am a bad mommy, consider the fact that went into this parenting thing realizing the discrimination toward second (third and fourth) children and I did not want my first child to feel like she was any more entitled than her later-arriving siblings. And you believe this, right?! Actually, we were busy as hell when Cavan was born: I was working full time, Hubby was finishing graduate school, and we just renovated and moved into our new house. Cavan was lucky I was able to rearrange our schedules to accomodate her delivery!
So, what do I have planned for baby number two? Certainly, if he/she still gets shafted, you can throw rotten tomatoes. a) Birth announcements. (Cavan hasn't even been featured yet on a Christmas card.) b) Professional photos (a given, since I'm sending out birth announcements). Can I start with that? After all, I can't play favorites, and I don't want BOTH kids chastizing me later in life for not documenting their childhoods. (Cavan, I'll find a way to get you some photos before bambina/o is born!)
Ok, I used to hold a grudge about the scrapbook when I was like 10; but as far as buying the she-ra doll you know I wanted, you still owe me:)
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