The Joys of Sleeping in the Sound of Silence

When you are not the first child of the family you are disadvantaged in a lot of ways. You are never the only apple of your parent's eyes, you never know what it feels like to be the only one enjoying all the undivided attention, the luxury of having all your toys and spaces to yourself and most importantly the joys of sleeping blissfully in a peaceful home. As a consequence, the second child is advantaged in a lot of ways... the lack of undivided attention lets him indulge himself in a lot of pleasures the first child would never dream of doing, especially with eyes watching him all over the place. Having to share all the toys and spaces also means an opportunity to share the blame for the by products of mischief. Sneaking away from tasks and responsibilities also becomes easier for the younger ones while the older child's lame excuses for getting away from a family get together for example would never be acceptable.

There are numerous other pros and cons of not being the first child. I probably won't outline all of them. I remember a few of my friends and my sister having a discussion about their sad misfortunes of being the younger ones. My husband and I (both the eldest in the family) were badly outnumbered that day and could not offer much of resistance in the debate that ensued. However with respect to having a peaceful slumber as babies the younger ones are always disadvantaged.

With Ishaan going to school, Rayaan is for the very first time discovering the joys of sleeping in a peaceful house. The poor baby never knew what it was like to take the long nap that he was entitled to. He probably does not like the sound of silence and goes to sleep just to conquer his boredom from missing his main entertainer. Whatever the case, once his brother leaves home, he plays for a little while and then drifts into a blessed golden slumber.