Amber Alert

We've confirmed this several times and serves as interesting conversation between us.

Amber is the naughtiest of them all, and she doesn't seem to be getting any better. Her specialties are climbing, taking things off the table & other high places, wearing other people's footwear and screaming when she doesn't get what she wants. But isn't that what other young children are like? Yes, to a certain extent. But given we've been through this twice already, trust us when we say she is the worst. The following is my theory, and given my fantastic analytical skills, profound intelligence and experience with these little gremlins, I am sure that I'm on the right track.

Nigel was a good boy. Being the first, he had no examples (good or bad) to follow, so it was really all about us teaching and disciplining him along the right path. The world was pure, innocent and completely free of evil.

Shannon was born when Nigel was only two. At two, Nigel was still very obedient and easy to control. He hadn't gone to school of any sort yet and was always at home under our constant care and surveillance. Shannon, being the younger sibling (and as all siblings do) just picks up the little pieces and tags along, copy-cat, parrot, other animals. Well, she's born in the year of the monkey, so it's really monkey-see, monkey-do. Nigel only went to school full-time when he was 5, so for the next 2-3 years, things were still relatively under control and mummy taught them well.

So it's not really Amber's fault at all. Shortly after she was born, both her elder siblings were launched into their respective early education programmes, which aim to educate, inspire, and infuse (them with the theatrics, funny language and nonsense antics of other children). As you might (or might not) know, put a bunch of kids together and as a collective, they will come up with ideas for global and regional destruction that none of them on their own would have been capable of.

And of course there are positive side-effects (e.g. learning, spelling, socialising), but let's not dwell too much on that.

So here she is; reaping the benefits of the early childhood naughtiness infection from not 1, not 2 but 3 (including Gabriel) way before we think she's ready. When her time does come (next year), she will be so darn eager and bustling with excitement to teach and share her young wisdom with her classmates whom might not have older siblings as model examples in the home.