The Benefits of Being a Third Child

It is true, once you start adding siblings to your first child you realize that you relax on some things.  Discipline, no.  Well, maybe for some.  But things like how old the second or third child is when he/she gets their first taste of ice cream or cookie get younger and younger.  Or eating off the floor isn't as big of a deal to you because you saw how your first child survived even though you were much more diligent to keep the floor swept, vacuumed, and clean.  Once your first child is old enough to watch tv, how do you keep your second/third/fourth child from watching tv?  You get slack.  Even though you tell yourself you won't, it still happens.

Ewan got his first ice cream when he was 2.  2!  I don't remember how old Isaac was but he was a lot younger.  Same thing for cookies.  When we thought Ewan was old enough to start chewing gum then it was hard to keep it from Isaac too.  Well, apparently the age for gum chewing with the third child is 18 months.  

Okay, well maybe our third child found some gum in my purse, knew what it was, unpeeled it, knew to put it in his mouth and chew.  I didn't give it to him.  But I didn't freak out after he put it in his mouth either (which I would have after child #1 or 2).  I waited to see what would happen.  I figured he would swallow it.  Or spit it out somewhere. Speaking of which, I should probably go see if I can find that chewed treasure somewhere.  But he figured out how to chew it and swallow the juices that come from a yummy piece of gum.  He chewed it longer than Ewan or Isaac did when they were first getting the hang of gum.  It was a camera grabbing opportunity--I just couldn't resist.