Sunday, October 09, 2005

A father's chronicle (Reflections of being an "elder brother")

Being the youngest among my siblings, I don't often think about the "elder brother" effect. What I mean is: the amount of adjustments and changes in the level of attention or even the changes / adjustments of the elder siblings for the younger one.

Out of a sudden, everybody is warning Theophilus to be careful with Gracia (the new girl of the block).

I've my own thoughts on that actually . I am trying not to make it too much a fuss to Theophilus. He is a boy and naturally brings along with him a certain level of roughness. But since he is a sensible boy and his language and reasoning level is very high, I just need to explain that the girl is very fragile at this point of time and we just need to beware of how we move around her. There is no need to "scold" him or constantly remind him again and again and again... I somehow observed that this kind of behaviour on the adults' part tend to add to the rivary between the siblings. They feel that the new arrival needs "special attention" and now they are somewhat "de-throned" (utter nonsense). I think Yan is right - the girl need to get used to this brother of hers too! Wise girl.

Not only movement must be adjusted, he needs to behave "properly" to avoid influencing the younger sister in a bad way. There are so many things happening and is like "forcing" him to grow up... and I just want all these forces to slow down a little on him. He is still a kid. Cut him some slack.

I am also trying to keep up with the same level of attention and time in playing with him. It can be tough, since there are additional chores and errands to do, but ... heh, I am Daddy, right?

This weekend is filled with alot of playing with him. I really enjoyed it... though... exhausted by now.

I am Dad, and I am handicapped with only 24 hours. I need a few more hours!