About My Third Child

I have a third child. When he was a baby, he was often shoved in a corner. I didn’t realize it, but later on, when watching home movies, I noticed he spent most of his babyhood swinging away in the baby swing. When he was born, he had a three-year-old brother and a two-year-old sister who demanded much of his dad’s and my time.

Who am I kidding? His brother and sister demanded ALL of our time when Luke was a baby.

Luke was the baby who hated the car. Unlike his brother and sister, who would immediately calm down during car rides, Luke would howl in the car. How could this be? I thought all babies were soothed when they felt the rhythm of the engine. My other two kids loved the car. Why didn’t Luke? Now I understand it was because Luke was constantly tossed into his car seat and taken for car rides. He had to go wherever I had to go – and I had to go to a lot of places with two other kids – Luke was along for the ride. All of the time.

He had to go with the flow. He never got the luxury of scheduled naps. He never got to be his own person, he’s always had to share – friends, toys, a bedroom. He’s always had to have the hand-me-downs. He never got to enjoy his own playgroup. He always had to tag along.

But the one thing he did get is the most very special gift of all. And I remind him of it every chance that I can.

I tell Luke this, in the quiet of night, when I am tucking him in to bed. I say, “Luke, do you know why you are so special to me?”

He always grins at me, and my heart melts a little bit each time, because by now, he knows.

“It’s because you know that Daddy and I didn’t have to have you. We already had a boy. We already had a girl. We could have stopped right there, with the perfect little family. But we wanted you. We wanted another child so badly and we knew our family wasn’t complete, and then you came into our lives.

You made us be our whole family.

Previously posted on Real Moms Guide. Thanks for reading!