Insight

I really don't get along well with my older sister. It's not that I hate her, we just don't have much in common and I don't really understand her.

Last night, I agreed to help a friend with a new baby go to a committee meeting in San Francisco. So I went to her house to meet up with her. There I got to see her 3 year old daughter again. I'd met her initially only about 6 months ago (when mom was still pregnant). She was a precocious and outgoing girl - very talkative and confident. But last night, just 5 weeks after her baby sister arrived and she has become anxious, quiet and clingy. Mom had to hug her 7 or 8 times and fielded 3 cell phone calls because the 3 year old had forgotten to tell her how much she loved her.

There is a picture of me and my sister, the day that I was brought home from the hospital. She, at 4, is sitting with me in her arms in the middle of the sofa. She's looking down at me with an expression of rapt attention. In the past, I always thought it was awe...after last night, I have to wonder if it was really dawning horror that this little critter has come to take over her life.