Listen to your mother. She knows what she's talking about.

I can't count how many times I've answered the question "how come s/he gets to?" The usual answers are, " because s/he is (insert age here) and you're not" "There are privileged that come with age." Or "you don't always get everything everyone else gets" these answers are my standard go to reasons although every now and then I throw in a new one just to make sure everyone is paying attention and not tuning out the droning in their ear that is their mothers voice. Then of course there is the other end of the spectrum. "I didn't get to do that when I was her age" "I didn't get to have one of those until I was (insert age here)" "I didn't get to watch that when I was her age" My usual answer to these are "you didn't have much older siblings" "would you prefer no one gets to do it because I can't be in both places" and varieties there of. My youngest will be 10 in a few weeks. I bought her a used nook off ebay this morning for her birthday. I can already hear the complaints in my head. This is a clear violation of the rules. None of the others were allowed an electronic device of this caliber at this age. And she's probably going to loose it more than once. One of the stipulations before this has been that you have to be old enough and responsible enough to take are of such things. And at 10 none of them were or I suppose are. But as I was deciding if I should get it for her or not, it occurred to me that there is a vast difference between being the oldest at 10 and the youngest at 10. The farther down in the line they are the faster they grow up. By virtue of having 4 older siblings, she's been exposed to more things along the way at a younger age. Let's face it, it's completely impractical to have 2 different sets of rules in the house. And it's just easier to take her to see Iron Man 3 with the family than it is to make them all go to see My Little Pony as a family. But in the end, she's beyond My Little Pony and she's beyond Leap Pad. She's beyond Rugrats and Avatar. She's way more advanced and mature than they were at her age. Which is in itself an experiment in the nature vs. nurture thing. They all grew up in the same family, with the same parents, under the same circumstances. She's not any smarter than they were at her age, but due to being exposed to different things than they were, is more advanced. So, in the end, I've decided that she can have a nook. Partly because I feel bad she's the only one that doesn't have something like it. Partly because I'm tired of settling arguments when she wants to play with one of her siblings devices and they won't let her. Partly because I'm tired of her playing on my phone all the time. But mostly, I'm old and tired people and just can't keep up with who got to do what at what age any more. I now have a new phrase for my children. One I heard from my mother more times than I can count when I was growing up. "In 20 years you'll understand" You were right mom, I do understand now. And I am now passing down your wisdom to the next generation. In 20 years they'll understand.