for the party, the presents, the attention to the two-year-old, the guests, and all the details, thinking of the four-year-old’s feelings got overlooked.
i asked my friend how involved the older granddaughter had been in helping to prepare for the party, to be a part of the planning, to help serve, decorate, to show the gifts around after her sister opened them. the answer was “not very much“. she was told repeatedly that this was her sister’s special day. she had already had her birthday.
but as we talked, this grandma realized that her four-year-old granddaughter had been feeling left out. including her in the excitement and the planning to make this 