Last child syndrome

Bella had her nap yesterday at my parents house, because we had no power & it was getting very hot. We took the boys to a movie while she slept. When we picked her up, my Mom looked at me & said, "she has last child syndrome!" My mind starting thinking about what she meant & then she explained that Bella peed through her clothes, her blanket, sheets & mattress while she slept because her diaper was so full!

Immediately I said, "no- I changed her....didn't I?"

I guess getting lost in the crowd is part of being the last child! There is another symptom of last child syndrome that makes them the luckiest kid in the family too. It is best said by Barbara Kingsolver in her book, "Poisonwood Bible." I just finished it last night & it is beautifully written, so I'll just quote her rather than trying to convey the feelings myself:

I took one deep breath for every step they took away from me. That's how it is with the firstborn, no matter what kind of mother you are- rich, poor, frazzled half to death or sweetly content. A first child is your own best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world. But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more coming after- oh, that's love by a different name. She is the babe you hold in your arms for an hour after she's gone to sleep. If you put her down in the crib, she might wake up changed and fly away. So instead you rock by the window, drinking the light from her skin, breathing her exhaled dreams. Your heart bays to the double crecent moons of closed lashes on her cheeks. She's the one you can't put down.