sorry!, baby number two

the other day derek was reading abbie a book and we both became keenly aware that she does not know her colors. i mean, i know we constantly use color words, but i guess i haven't explicitly taught her colors (like i am sure i did with jonah). i notice this with a lot of things. the second child just doesn't quite get the level of instruction that the first did. with baby number one, we are on our game as parents. we buy every educational book, toy, and spend the few sleeping moments we have at night dreaming of the ways we can make snacks and day trips and playtime educational...we make every moment into a teaching moment. with baby number two (and all subsequent children) those dreams of teaching moments fly quickly out the window. your moments are consumed with feeding two babies two different meals, potty training baby number one while constantly bathing baby number two because of massive diaper blow-outs, providing equal amounts of cuddle time for both babies (so as to not upset baby number one's jealousy bones),  keeping baby number one from attacking baby number two with hugs and kisses and the germs that come with those hugs and kisses, and bracing yourself for the inevitable scream fest where both babies simultaneously feel the need to express their dissatisfaction with your parenting skills. so in those moments when i realize that my second baby is educationally deprived, i quickly do something like...pull out sorry! and play as a family, making sure to name every number and color as we encounter them.

so, we play...and name colors...and count...and identify numbers...and after about 7 minutes baby number one and baby number two have abandoned the game and are rolling on the floor tickling each other. teaching moment officially over! so what if every color is "poe-poe" (purple). those joyful giggles echoing through the house are the reason we decided to have baby number two in the first place. i'm happy to give up those teaching moments for these ones filled with joy and laughter!