FOMO. Fear of missing out. Added to Webser's Dictionary in 2013, apparently FOMO is a real word and a real affliction...and Adelie has it. She lives her life in constant fear that something is going to happen without her. She never wants to leave an activity or stop playing (especially if others are involved), so she always waits until the last possible moment to use the bathroom, often arguing with me that she doesn't need to go as she does the squirmy, wiggly, leg-crossing dance of someone who's on the verge of wetting themselves. If Adelie has to stop a play activity for a bathroom break or to do something I've asked, she always wants everyone to "pause the game" until she returns. She shrieks and cries if she is still getting her shoes on while others are heading outside to start playing. She gets so sad when Staley is invited to a party or a sleepover or a play date without her. Being in the mix with her cousins or the neighborhood kids is a priority for her. She is always counting down the years until she is old enough to sign up for all the same activities that Staley does.
Adelie's transition to school has enhanced some of her FOMO moments. Although she loves school, she cries when she knows that Briggs is spending the day with Grammie and Grandpa or Uma and Papa without her. When she gets home from school, Adelie always asks what Briggs and I did during the day...and then often cries about missing out on a fun outing or lunch at a restaurant or a play date with friends. It's hard on her being at school all day and thinking about all the fun things she must be missing by not being home. However, there were also tears about the fun things that Staley got to do at school before Adelie was old enough to go. You can't win with FOMO.
I don't know how to help Adelie work through this. Maybe it's a product of being the second child, always assuming that the older sibling is doing bigger, better, more fun activities than you. Maybe it's due to Adelie's social personality and her love of being a part of the action. Maybe our daily life isn't exciting enough and she feels like there must be something out there that she's missing. Whatever the reason, FOMO is a real thing...
...and this girl has it bad.
