Left Behind...

There's one little man round these parts who gets an awful lot of loving.... and ever since biggest sister has gone off to school, the attention really has become focussed on him...

Heidi has not found the transition the easiest. While Ava has skipped happily into school every morning, Heidi has been sad, clingy, and just down in the dumps. She's missing her best buddy like crazy, and I'm getting the same questions repeated every day...

"When is Ava coming home?"

"Why can't we go and get Ava now?"

"When can I go to School with Ava?"

And when I can't answer the questions in the way she wants me to, the tantrums start...

I feel so sad for my usually chirpy, fun-filled littlest lady

But yesterday I noticed a switch in our Heidi... she seemed more settled, eager to play with Jonas, smiley and chirpy. I notice with all of the children that when their behaviour's a little off the wall, they usually just need some down days. Days at home where it's easier to follow through on discipline and be consistent... Days where we potter and play and just be. And somehow, those days seem to do a little heart mending.

I still had the string of questions, but yesterday was the first day in a while that we had no tantrums.

I suppose I worked quite hard to prepare Ava for the transition to "big school". I was so concerned and worried about how she would settle in, that I didn't really consider the impact on the younger ones... and now I'm seeing that actually its almost harder for those left behind. Ava gets all the excitement and adventure of school, while Heidi gets the same old routine, just without her big sister around.

So it warmed my heart, and made me feel especially thankful to see her being so sweet with her baby brother yesterday... she's got a new play buddy who is getting more interactive every day.

Even if he does look a little glum in this picture... perhaps he's missing his biggest sister too!

The Ordinary Moments