i know they say it’s not right or fair to compare siblings but honestly, how can you not? each have their own strengths and talents. each bring something unique to the table. i don’t think one of my children is superior to the other and i don’t love one more than the other. so, i don’t feel at all guilty that i’m about to put in writing how my children are so VERY different.
everly is fifteen months old and she can run, climb, go up and down stairs unassisted, jump, and go down a slide all by herself. she is advanced in gross motor skills. at fifteen months, jaden could not yet walk and was still crawling around everywhere. he didn’t start climbing and jumping until he was well over two years old. however, before he was fifteen months old, he knew the entire alphabet and all the phonic sounds and he knew all his colors, shapes, and animals. gross motor skills are still not his forte but he’s very advanced cognitively. she’s active, he’s not. he prefers puzzles and reading, she prefers climbing and riding. she’s carefree, he’s meticulous. he’s a rule follower, she’s a rule breaker. she likes apples, he likes oranges. i can go on forever.
today, their differing personalities was highlighted when we went to an indoor playground. as soon as we walked in, everly ran to all the toys and never looked back. she didn’t once look for me. jaden, on the other hand, held on to my leg and always made sure that i was within arms reach. he doesn’t pick up a single toy without asking first and insists that i help him down the slide when he’s perfectly capable of doing it himself. everly waves hi to all strangers and willingly takes food from people she doesn’t know- like when another mom offers some crackers that everly was trying to steal from her child. jaden never accepts food from strangers – not even candy- and i need to literally force him to say hello to someone he doesn’t know. everly fights like her life depends on it if a child takes away a toy she was playing with, whereas jaden always relinquishes the toy and then shies away between my legs to hide his disappointment. i can totally envision everly protecting her older brother and bullying anyone that messes with him. [“though she be but little, she is fierce!’]
i have two older sisters and though we each have our own different personalities, i think we have more similarities than differences. all three of us are more introverted and passive-aggressive so it’s very entertaining seeing such stark differences in my own children.
i think being polar opposites will only strengthen their relationship. after all, opposites do attract. because they are not similar, they have more to learn from each other and influence each other in different ways. everly teaches jaden to be more confident and jaden teaches everly all of his knowledge and facts (the other day i heard him teaching her the difference between a chimpanzee and baboon.) i have no doubt that these two are going to make a great team.