Lonely Days Ahead for Little Miss

Here is Meera today, during Kyle and Owen's swimming lesson with Calvin. They were out in the pool, she was stuck in the house with Braydon and I making dinner. She played a bit, but mostly she kept going back and forth to the screen door, begging us to let her out to be with her bros. For a long time now she's been saying the word "Brothers" -- and saying it often (definitely her most used, most favorite word... we hear it at least 100 times a day, no kidding). But today, as she stood there at the screen door while K & O were having their swimming lessons, Meera said, very clearly, and repeatedly, and pointing toward the pool, and very pathetically sadly, "brothers outside." They are her best buds, her peeps, her greatest love and joy. And this summer, they have been her constant companions. Now that she's mobile she follows them everywhere they go (that is, unless there is no screen door or other such impossible obstacle in her way). They are way too fast for her, and often don't even have the time of day for her, but there you'll find her-- toddling toward them, determined to be with them. Even though she's usually just trailing along in their dusty path, she always laughs hysterically at their stupid jokes, and she thinks they're the greatest. When they do slow down enough to lay some love on her (which is, fortunately for everyone, every-once-in-a-while with some regularity), Owen will tickle her 'till she seems ready to burst, and Kyle will patiently "read" baby books to her 'till her attention span maxes out. Don't get me wrong, she's had her fair share of falls because they've knocked her over without even thinking twice about her, and crying fits because they've grabbed something from her and then taken off faster than she could ever chase them, and they have definitely doled out their fair share of "bad behavior" toward her in all sorts of ways... but overall, the three of them do really well together, all things considered. She's always the third wheel, for sure (an unavoidable reality of the single sibling of twin-sets). But the thing is, she seems happy to be that. And she rarely complains. At least for now. And so, as the summer draws to a close, and we look to next week with the boys' first day of school... I worry about how my sweet little darling girlie will fare as her brothers go off to school for a large chunk of each day. The saddest part is that she doesn't even know it is coming. But I do predict that the adjustment to 'Back to School' will be hardest on the youngest member of the J-M Party. There are lonely days ahead for Little Miss.