Being the Youngest

I'm the oldest of three, so I have not personally experienced this part of the birth order.  I can tell you what I have observed about the youngest, what studies say about being the youngest and what others say about the youngest.

Hannah is our youngest.  She is full of spunk and I have often said, "If she had been my first, I would have had more, BUT they would have been about 30 years apart." 

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  I have tried to establish fun traditions in our home and make those little holidays special for the kids.  Rachel and Aaron are at a point where they really don't get too excited about Valentine's Day.  As I learned yesterday, Hannah still has great expectations.  I guess as the other two have lost their excitement over the little touches, I've let them go.  As I learned yesterday, those little things still mean a lot to Hannah.

I am the room parent for her class at school.  Each classroom is only allowed to have one party a year.  Most of the classes choose to do that at Christmas.  For the rest of the holidays, I usually send in cookies for the teacher to give to the kids.  For Valentine's Day, Hannah and I went to the store the night before to pick out some cookies.  The cookies they had for Valentine's Day looked really lame, so we chose some cupcakes.  After holidays, I often hit the stores and stock up on goody-bag items while they are on clearance.  I had tons of Valentine's Day stuff in my stash, so Hannah and I also put together some goody-bags.  While we were at the store, I realized I did not buy anything for my kids for Valentine's Day.  Since Hannah was with me, I tried to nonchalantly throw some boxes of Hershey's Kisses in the cart. 

 

 

When I got out of bed on Valentine's Day morning, I thought about the heart shaped plates I had used in years past and how I had made the kids pancakes.  I was out of eggs, so I couldn't make pancakes.  I make mine from scratch, so there weren't any boxes of "just add water mix."  I decided I would just use the heart shaped plates for dinner.  PK was about to walk out the door for work and using the plates at dinner would include the entire family.  I put the boxes of Hershey's Kisses on the table and hoped for the best.

 

Rachel got up in her usual morning teenage stupor without the slightest hint of expecting anything grand for Valentine's Day.  Whew! 

 

Aaron came down and poured a bowl of cereal.  I showed him his chocolate, he smiled and sat down with his breakfast.  Two down. 

 

I went to wake Hannah up.  She jumped out of bed with a smile on her face.  I knew I was in trouble.  She is the hardest one to wake up every morning.  If she is excited about something that is happening that day, it is easier.  She made it from the bed to the top of the stairs in a nanosecond.  She stopped abruptly and asked, "Where are Rachel and Aaron?"  When I want to surprise the kids, I make them wait at the top of the stairs until they can come down together.  Hannah was expecting the usual Valentine's Day production. 

 

She walked into the kitchen and I tried to act really excited about the box of chocolate.  Hannah smiled, but I could see in her eyes that she was expecting something else.  She had wanted to make Holly a special Valentine's Day treat.  She grabbed a paper plate, spread peanut butter in the shape of a heart and covered it with dog treats.  She got Holly out of her crate and the dog loved her surprise.  While Hannah was eating her breakfast, I noticed a tear running down her cheek.  I asked her what was wrong and it took a bit of encouraging to get her to tell me.  She really was trying not to be disappointed.  As I had already figured out, she was expecting the whole shebang.  I told her I was going to pull out the plates for dinner and that would mean Daddy could be there, too.

 

I took Hannah to school and walked her in to help her carry all the goodies to her classroom.

 

Then I went to Walmart and picked up some red and white streamer, a heart shaped pan to make a cookie cake and a small Valentine's Day gift for each child.  Don't judge.  I started these little traditions because I think they are fun and I want the kids to have great memories of little family traditions.  I have also taken great care to make sure our traditions are portable.  Since we have moved so often, doing something like having breakfast at a certain restaurant on a specific holiday isn't practical.  Pulling out heart shaped plates is doable and Hannah does have great memories.

 

I put a black tablecloth on the dining room table and hung streamer across the room.  Some heart candy pieces came with the cookie cake pan and I used those as table scatter.  I put a red bag at each child's seat. 

 

 

When Hannah came home from school, she was very excited to see the decorations.  That is all it took.  She was happy with that little added touch.  Note to self...streamers go a long way in adding a little fun to any holiday. 

 

Aaron has been buying mints at the school store and I have been trying to convince him he could buy them for less at the store, so that is what his gift was.  Rachel got her favorite eyeliner.  She has to buy her makeup with her allowance, so she was happy to have that.  Hannah received some new earbuds because she keeps taking PK's.  The kids smiled at their little tokens and we all enjoyed tacos.

 

The cookie cake was cute.  I had to make it twice as I dropped the first one on the floor.

 

Now, St. Patrick's Day is on the way and I will be in Haiti.  How am I going to pull this one off?  I just don't see my husband sneaking through the house in the middle of the night putting green food coloring in the toilets.