Firsts dont fade

Well...the title should be very much self explanatory! All this while we are used to listening to people glorifying their first love, kiss, etc, etc. As I generally maintain, life doesn't appear beautiful just for lovers. Somehow love of other sorts have been sidelined all along. Probably because these aren't entertaining enough. Recently, I have had an opportunity to think of a certain first child concept and the complications that it carries.

To start with, I am not a first child and so I probably do not understand it that well. Being the first child is a great thing, until your rival is born that is :)...It becomes difficult for the elder one to accept that whatever they had complete authority over, has to shared by a person they don't know. Like, I would be happy to share a chocolate with a friend rather than a stranger. And when young parents are at this stage when they have to share their love in between their children, it is difficult for them too. No matter how much ever you try, it is not possible to think things won't change. Ya...it is true, that it is all a transient phase and once they grow a lil older, siblings become your confidantes and how much ever you fight, verbally and physically assualt each other, they will be there for you anytime you need them. But what does a child of three or four know of all this. For that child, the new born is competition. Sometimes, it so happens that the elder one is so protective of the younger one that such issues don't arise. Again, that kinda happens only if the first child is significantly older.




And the bane of being the elder one is realized all through childhood and teenage. The younger ones always seem little to the parents and hence escape most of the pranks they pull. And the elder ones face the canon :P... The elder one is also automatically expected to be responsible and see to it that their younger siblings do not make/get into trouble.

Having talked about all this, it is also true that the memories of first-time parenthood can't be paralleled. The excitement, curiosity and the experience remains unmatched. Their (first kid's) childhood until their siblings are born, is showered with love from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles alike. For they are the FIRST! Actually, no matter how much the first child feels unattended and all that, they can still be sure that their sibling never had the undivided attention of people around, like they did. It might not be realized immediately, but down the lane they need to know what privilege they did enjoy. So...paying a lil price in the form of responsibility shouldn't be a big deal you know... :)

PS: Sorry Sow... :)