Walking with Megan

As I have said before, Megan is the quintessential middle child.  She is quirky and silly.  As the old saying goes, she moves to the beat of a different drummer.  Lately, I've posted on here about Emily (here and here, for example) and Rachel (here), but it seems I rarely post about Megan.  The gosh honest truth is, that's an unfortunate part of being the middle child.  She is not the oldest which means she is not the first to do many things.  She is also not the youngest, which means she is not the last to do things, either.  Couple all that with the fact that the oldest and youngest are super charismatic (as is Megan) and you have the typical middle child dilemma.  (That is typical, is't it??  Please tell me it's typical and not just my shortcoming as a parent!)

I am painfully aware of this dilemma (typical or not) and I do honestly feel guilty about it.  Therefore, when Megan asked me to take a walk with her last night, I seized the opportunity for some one-on-one time with her.  Megan has more energy than anyone I know and she kept up, step for step, with my faster pace and longer stride.  She even ran a little ahead a couple times in an effort to keep up with the dog.  And, oh my goodness, she notices everything.  She talked about the different colors in the gravel; noticed the subtle smell of honeysuckle; inquired about the dog's habit of "marking her trail"; commented on which neighbors hadn't yet taken their garbage cans to the curb; was concerned about the "ding" from my phone signaling a new email (which I ignored, thank you very much!); and, of course, caught a glimpse of the horses that were across the pasture.

In order to really "get" Megan, you have to be able to keep up with her - physically and mentally.  That takes some serious attentiveness and when I am given the rare opportunity to give her that level of undivided attention, I am quickly reminded of what a neat kid she is.  She is really smart, although sometimes she needs to work on her focus.  She is emotional extremes - either mad at the world or happy as a lark - no in between.  Like I said, she notices everything even though it often seems she is in another world.  Therefore, she can frequently surprise you with random facts or other information you would have never guessed she knew.  And once again, she has sooooo much energy.  If I could bottle just a little of it, I would be thrilled! :-)

Our walk last night reminded me that I really need to find a way to carve out one-on-one time with each of my girls to appreciate their intricacies and remind myself of their individuality.  This is definitely much easier said than done, but it is important to make the effort.  Hopefully, I can do more of this with them this summer - even if it is just a twenty minute walk through the neighborhood on a summer evening!

My sweet Megan and her sunshine-y smile!! :-)