For Jenna The Amazing

GIRL. POWER. Is what I'm sayin today.

In knowing my love for all shades of pink, ("my culuhs are blush and bashful"-Steel Magnolias) my sister wrote on my facebook wall that she bought my niece a pink softball glove, to which I replied "every girl needs a pink softball glove".
This is Jenna, she is the epitome of girl power. I love this picture of her because it shows that there is no better way to play softball; pigtails, pink softball glove, cleats, and total concentration in her expression. She's in the game!
I started thinking about what it must be like to grow up as a middle child. I went straight to the subject and asked her how she felt about being the child in the middle, growing up between an older brother and younger sister. Her first answer was, "Good." It made me laugh because I realized that you can't put someone on the spot like that, you have to give them time to think about what you're asking. She did think about it, and expanded a little. "Well, I help my mom take care of Julia. I help clean and fold laundry. When we go outside to play I watch out for Julia". Julia, aka Jewels, is baby sister. And a love she is. What I sensed from Jenna's thoughts was, "I am a caregiver".
I read an article "Middle Child Syndrome - Fact Or Fiction" ( found here http://tinyurl.com/yyw75qn) that stated: Middle children tend to be the family diplomats. They dislike conflicts and seek fairness and justice. They’re “people pleasers.” I think Jenna definitely seeks fairness and justice, she is absolutely not afraid to speak her mind when something isn't going as well as she would like to see it handled. I love that about her. I'm constantly saying "you go girl" in my mind, since I don't have the luxury of seeing her on a daily basis. She can bake cookies, kick a soccer ball across a field, wear a tutu and her hair up in a bun, and ice skate for the first time by herself with no help. She's not afraid to try anything, I can learn things from this girl!

My next source of opinion was my middle sister. She feels that the "middle child syndrome" is mostly a formed idea from everyone else, because she didnt grow up feeling different because she was sandwiched in between myself and our youngest sister. When talking to people about her view of things, she often heard "oh that's probably because you're the middle child". When you're young you just think "oh" and move on. The "I can do everything better than you" stance she took at times came from "the middle child seeing the older sibling do what they do, and then forming the idea that they can do it better". That makes them self confident. Having a younger sibling also means they get to be the boss of them, what fun for a kid right? A "self imposed bossyness" she called it. That made me laugh out loud and I'm quite certain my youngest sister will comment about this. I agreed with her regarding "the parents are more relaxed with the second child, so they learn to do a little more for themselves than the eldest sibling would".

Dear Jenna
I love and adore you to the moon and back three times. You can do anything you want to do, and go places you haven't even dreamed of going to yet. When I miss you and the Jenna-ache occurs, I will call you and ask about your day, that always makes my day go better. Dream BIG, because you are destined for great things. And I am so glad I will get to see you achieve them, one by one. Rock on ballerina, you're awesome!

This post is dedicated to Jenna, with love

See you next time!

Tiffany

PS Are you a middle child? What was that like when you were growing up?