My Life as a Broken Record

I look at families with multiple children and I'm a bit jealous. I'm not jealous because of the number of children they have. I'm perfectly content with the two I have and the one I hope to be worthy to raise in the next life. I'm jealous because their younger kids can learn from the older kids. They talk and walk and do so many things sooner than their first child did because they emulate their older siblings.

The problem is that younger siblings DO emulate their older siblings. Lizzy emulates Darin and since Darin doesn't have the same skill sets as other 4-year-olds, it isn't very helpful. And the joy doesn't stop there. Darin loves to emulate Lizzy. And to the two of them, it is all a fun game. And Mommy has her part to play. When Lizzy climbs on the back of the couch, Mommy tells her to not climb on the back of the couch. Those are the magic words. Those are the words that cue Darin that he needs to climb on the back of the couch and have his turn. The game isn't complete if Mommy doesn't also have to tell Darin to get off the back of the couch. And it is funny to them. It is frustrating to Mommy, so very frustrating.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if my younger child were the autistic one and the older child had developed in the "normal" way. Would my life be a little bit easier? Would the younger child who had the tendancy to mimic behavior because they don't understand how they are "supposed" to behave be better behaved because of the example of a "normal" older sibling? Would it have worked? Would my life be easier now? Because this broken record wants MP3 file - plays smoothly and doesn't get scratched. This broken record is tired of having to repeat herself and watching her two children repeat each other.