It's All About Me! by Nancy Cote

It's All About Me! by Nancy Cote

Rating: 2 stars

I don't even want to waste much time on this one.  In our family, no one has the luxury of saying, "It's all about me!"  Except maybe on their birthday.  For a few minutes.

Because it's NOT all about one person.  We had our kids close enough together (18 months) that Lorelei never once wished her brother would "disappear" like this big brother wants his little brother to disappear.  Or maybe--just maybe, just throwing it out there--it has something to do with our high expectations of her as a big sister.  I'll never know why, but I do know we're lucky to have done something right somewhere along the way.

Here are the two stanzas that kill me about this book: "If Mommy tells me I'm the best / And Daddy tells me, too / Then why'd they want another one? / Oh, I hope that it's not true" and "When Mommy says he looks so cute / I don't know what she sees / I hope that baby disappears / And then she'll just have me."

Now, even with my harsh words, if you've found yourself in the unhappy situation where your older resents your younger, I guess this is a book you might want to read.  But hopefully we can prevent the situation by resisting the temptation to allow the first child to think "it's all about me" even when they're the only one around.  If I find some sibling non-rivalry pixie dust, I'll be sure to market it.