In the Middle

He was my buddy. My baby. Every morning, since he started sleeping in a big boy bed at 2, he crept into our room, snuggled under the covers and told me he loved me. He wrote me love letters and drew me pictures. He held my hand and let me hug and kiss him whenever and wherever I wanted.

He was my happy, silly, easygoing little guy.

But, something's happened. Something's different.
Over the past six months or so my little boy isn't so happy anymore and he isn't so easygoing. He's more likely to wear a pout  than a smile. There's the not listening, not sharing and misbehaving and even telling a lie. And then there's the meltdowns and tears...lots and lots of tears over just about everything. His sister calls him a crybaby and yesterday his best friend said "I never knew a 6 year old to cry so much."

I just want to pick him up, hug him and say "Just tell me why you're so sad."

The thing is I don't think he knows.

Of course it's probably because he's not the baby anymore. He's stuck in the middle and not sure what to do. As frustrating as it is for us as parents, I feel bad for him. While Julie embraced her little sister with open arms, and became a mother figure. Johnny wasn't sure where he fit in. He's stuck in the middle between Julie--the all star student and karate champ and Josie--his adorable, can-do-know-wrong baby sister. He doesn't quite have a "thing"yet, though we know one day he'll shine.

I feel so sad that we're going through this rough patch with the kid we was always so happy and kind and easy. But we will help him find his way. We love him, stuck in the middle and all.