A Comparison Of My Daughters: Age 4

I'm going to do that thing that no mother should ever do: compare my children.  (To each other, not to anyone else's children...)

For the last few months I've been amazed by Rose and all the things she's up to.  So much so that I am constantly comparing her (in my mind, of course) with how Emma was at her age.  They are almost complete polar opposites.  It's astounding to me.

Emma at 4 - With 1 year old Rose peeking out the window.

Emma was always my quiet girl.  Well, once she got over being the baby that cried ALL THE TIME.  She was never a chatty kid.  She's 7 now and she's more chatty than before but still very content to sit and listen to what's going on around her.

Rose, on the other hand, was a quiet, easy-going baby, and now she never stops talking.  Just yesterday we watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and she talked through the whole thing.  "Who is that?"  "Where are they going?"  "When does Harry get his owl?"  "Is that person going to teach them?"  "That's a lot of children!" and so on.  I actually had to walk away, she was way too distracting!

Rose at 4 - always playing

The junior kindergarten experience is vastly different between the two girls.  To be fair, kindergarten education has changed since Emma started.  Rose is now having full-day everyday class where Emma went every other day and alternating Fridays.  Regardless, I think they would have had different experiences without that change.  They are vastly different kids!

Rose is now "air writing" everything she sees everywhere.  People's shirts, billboards and signs anywhere, and if words show up on tv.  She is so interested in letters (and numbers) and especially the ones in her name.  We have to trace words in every book we look at and she talks about the letters and the sounds and all that "academic" stuff all the time.  Emma never was interested in letters the same.  It was a struggle to "work" at school stuff with her.  Now (at 7) Emma likes words and reading and all that, but at 4 she had no interest.

The other big difference I'm seeing is the after school conversations.  Emma always told us she never did anything at school and it was "boring."  Rose, on the other hand, will talk for ages about who was at school and what they did and who was mean and all that.  I don't always understand what she's talking about, but boy does she talk!  She loves her class and her teachers and it really shows.  Not that I think Emma didn't enjoy her days then but she would rarely talk about it without considerable prodding from us parents.

I find it so fascinating that two little people who sprung from the same gene pool can grow and learn in completely different ways.  Life is a constant social experiment, especially when kids are involved.

Do we treat the girls differently?  Likely.  They are different people with different needs.  Rose needs the affection and cuddles and constant physical contact (especially when she's tired) while Emma is content to colour quietly or watch videos or movies alone, and without asking a million questions about what's going on.

We are fortunate that despite their differences (or because of them?) they are fast friends.  We don't really have "real" fights around the house.  Well unless they are with us parental people.  Sure, feelings get hurt (more often Rose's) but Emma knows how to work things out and give in to Rose when she's about to have a meltdown.

I'm intensely curious to see where the girls go from here.  Will Rose be fluently reading by age 5 1/2, due to this early interest in letters?  Will they stay emotional (and verbal) counterbalances to each other?  This raising kids business is way more interesting (and challenging!) than I ever thought.

Share your household's dynamics with me.  I love hearing other families observations of their kids and their differences (or similarities).  Post your comments below for me to marvel over!