Big Brother Bitterness

In the past week, our toddler became a teenager. Moody, melodramatic, belligerent...Liam was in tears almost all the time...except when he was chirping about how much he loves his baby brother, and asking to hold him. I really don't think he feels any hostility toward Timothy, he just feels unsure about his own role in the family.

For the first week, Liam was a hypochondriac, with constant headaches and pinched fingers. He would come to me with his eyes brimming with tears, and say, "Something's wrong with me." Jealousy and insecurity are too abstract, and new, so I guess he had to come up with a more concrete type of pain.

Two days ago he had a breakthrough, which was heartbreaking for me, but it's progress. When I arrived at daycare to pick him up, he burst into tears and refused to come near me. On the way home, our conversation was something like this:

"I don't want Baby Brother."

"I know, it's hard when your family changes, and sometimes you wish it could go back to the way it used to be."

"Put him back in your tummy."

"I can't put him back, and besides, I love Timothy just like I love you."

"You don't love me!"

This part was too much for me to bear. He repeated it over and over, until I was sobbing.

Liam was a basket case all that night and the next day, but today he seemed more like his usual self. He consented to sitting in a chair next to me while I held the baby, so we could all read a book together. I'm sure we will still have our ups and downs, but hopefully he has taken a turn for the better.