One Of Them

Since I'm the oldest of three girls, I forget sometimes how much younger siblings want to be like the older ones.  I got it all the time when I was a kid.  My sisters always wanted to do what I was doing, eat what I was eating, watch what I was watching.  It used to annoy me to no end.  Even to the point when I once told my sister, Beth, she wasn't allowed to watch The Electric Company with me because it was for older kids.  She could only watch Sesame Street, since it was more for her age.  We are 2 1/2 years apart.  What a huge age difference.  Looking back now I see how endearing it was, especially since I see the cycle repeating itself in my girls.  I still have a hard time recognizing and understanding it since I was always the leader.  I didn't have anyone to look up to or follow, so when Georgia gets upset and I can't figure out why, looking to see what her sisters are doing is one of the last things I think of.  I guess I have to change that way of thinking, because nine times out of ten that's exactly what she's upset about.  She just wants to do what they're doing or have what they have.  EXACTLY THE SAME WAY.  This is what happened at the grocery store yesterday.

I didn't have too many things to shop for, because I had gone on Monday afternoon.  There were just a few items I annoyingly forgot, so I had to take a short trip back.  It worked out okay though, because my van  desperately need washed, and I put the two errands together to take up most of the afternoon. 

 When we got to the store I put Georgia in the double stroller.  Lana didn't want to sit in there, but I decided to bring the double one anyway, because I've been through the, "I want to walk, I want to sit", game before.  It's always better to have the double stroller and not use both seats than have the single one, and a screaming Lana who must sit NOW!  Plus if she didn't  sit in there it gave me a place to put my backpack.  This trip, however, Sonya said her stomach hurt and she wanted to sit, so I let her in the stroller.  

Georgia started to get whiney and Lana was threatening to run around, so I was quickly trying to grab the few things I needed and get the hell out of there.  We ended up in the cheese aisle and I got some "cow" cheese, as the girls call it.  These are individually wrapped rectangles of cheddar cheese (with a picture of a cow on it), and they make good snacks for the girls in their lunchboxes or my backpack.  Sonya asked if she could have one, so of course Lana asked too.  I opened two up and handed them out.  I've done this before, opened crackers or cheerios in the store, to keep the kids quiet.  It's not like I'm not paying for the whole thing, so I don't care about the dirty looks I get from other customers.  ANYWAY-Georgia saw her sisters each get a rectangle of cheese and started whining and pointing at the cheese.  I opened one for her and started breaking off a piece.  She immediately shook her head, started to cry and get upset.  I took this to mean she didn't want cheese and she was just being cranky.  We went about our shopping business, while Georgia started a total flip out.  She cried, whined and did the sliding down in her seat thing.  She was buckled, however, so she didn't get too far.  

"Sonya, do you have any idea why G is crying?" I asked.  She was sitting behind her in the stroller and Georgia kept turning around seemingly angry at her.  

"I think she wants some cheese," Sonya guessed.  

I explained, "I tried that already and she didn't want it."

"No, I think she wants the whole thing," she told me.

I stopped to think for a second.  That couldn't be it, could it?  I mean I tried to give her some of the cheese broken up, and she wanted nothing to do with it.  It was worth a shot though.  So I opened a new piece and put it in the wrapper, handing it to her the way I had her sisters.  She looked at it and then at Sonya's, took a bite and immediately stopped her tantrum.  She quietly ate her cheese, that was just like her sisters', for the rest of the trip.  

This isn't the first time something like this has happened.  She is constantly trying to follow them, do what they're doing and she must always eat what they're eating.  I thought she was too young to start acting this way, but apparently not.  I know it's only going to get worse from here and as endearing as it is, it is still a tad bit annoying, especially when it takes me a few minutes to realize the current tantrum is about wanting to be just like her sisters.  I guess I better explain to Sonya now how everyone is allowed to watch The Electric Company.