Before my second child was born, I had a great relationship with my first son. We spent many hours of quality time together, and communication was never an issue. I think that this is a common trend with first children; they receive a parent's undivided attention, energy, and love.

Somehow, I quite naively thought that things would carry on where they left off after I came back from the hospital with the new baby. The reality was that I arrived home as a sleep-deprived, postpartum, hormonal basket case, and communicating meaningfully with my eldest child was not a top priority.