Two and a half generations, By DAD (MIKE)

Usually it seems perfectly normal to have a baby in the house, hovered over and kissed incessantly by two older sisters.
At other times, the distance between M & M & Q seems very wide. Not in a bad way, just more noticeable than the moment before.
One of the first times this struck me was while walking M1 three blocks through the neighborhood to a babysitting job. She had gathered her bag of toys and other tricks to entertain the boys; she would be watching over a 10 year old taller than she is, and his 8 year old brother; the parents would be gone from the house for a dinner out. She was in charge. Meanwhile, I had Q riding in the baby carrier on my chest, and he gurgled and googled down the block. I was dropping M1 off for her babysitting job, only to go back to our house with our own babysitting job ahead of us.
It struck me again last night as M1 went through two hours of preparations for a school friend's bar mitzvah and dance. She had the miniskirt, the newly straightened hair, the beautiful blouse. As she was wiping lip gloss onto her mouth, I was wiping drool away from Q's mouth. This is either keeping us very young or aging us before our time, we still haven't decided which.