babies playing mummies

Sometimes I wonder if my kids are growing up before their time, before they should. I know for a fact Monkey Man won't ever remember being an only child. If anyone is going to hospital this is most distressing for him, most likely as he associates hospital with a new sister and thus, it's terrifying. Both my toddlers certainly seem to take on older traits and habits before I would expect them to. Both Monkey Man and Missy Moo will grab a towel and wipe Little Miss' mouth when she does an unexpected puke. They love holding the bottle for her or passing her a dummy or toy. Hell they even tell her to 'be quiet' when she's whinging or crying. I've had the odd meltdown over the past few years, found myself crumpled in a corner crying over something stupid and felt a hand on my back and some reassuring pats. Monkey Man did this when he was just a year old and I, in newborn sleep deprived mode dropped a bottle of expressed milk all over the floor. No point crying over spilt milk? When it's breastmilk that you've worked tirelessly to produce and collect, hell yes there is a point to cry over that!! I wonder if they are 'damaged' in some way by being so close together and exactly how guilty I should feel for causing this damage? Then I realise I'm not a shrink, I'll never know or at least not for another 20 years or so and until then I will enjoy watching them grow together. The fact they have to do everything together is annoying but so cute. At a play centre today a smaller boy pushed Monkey Man and I watched for his reaction, as he's been told he's not to shove anyone but especially not those smaller than him... did he shove back? no, he sat down and cried. Ok so maybe thats not the best example of how well adjusted my kids are?

If one of them makes a mess apparantly 'mummy is to clean it up'... why? because thats what mummys do. Hmmm ok, we need to work on this perception. Although they both rush to grab a tea towel to clean up spilt water or bird poo on the deck. Where the bird poo cleaning strategy came from is beyond me.

Missy Moo loves her dollies and babies, she picks them up like they're real babies and puts them in her pram. I watch her fuss over them, rocking the pram to put them to sleep (I assume) and cuddling them to death. She then tries to do the same to her baby sister. Lucky for both parties Missy Moo isn't strong enough to pick Little Miss up but that doesn't stop her trying. She also cuddles her, or puts her in a head lock, at least a dozen times a day, lays on top of her to suffocate her, I mean cuddle her and pokes her all over the head in attempt to ssshhh her. It's love!

My babies are often playing Mummies and I'm choosing to believe it's normal, they're just playing and I'm not harming them for life by bringing them up the way I am, we are... sorry. And sometimes, it's downright funny:

This afternoon I witnessed Monkey Man and Missy Moo changing Buzz Lightyear's nappy. Yes, really. Apparantly he did a big poo and he was stinky. They had one of Monkey Mans nappies and were busily changing Buzz, with Monkey Man giving directions and Missy Moo doing the changing. Still have no idea where the bossiness comes from . . .