My youngest son, Ryan, is obsessed with Thomas the Train. He calls Thomas- “Me,” because he thinks that he is Thomas. He tries to say the other engines names, except for Thomas. He is sitting here at 6:45 on a Sunday morning, after getting out of his Thomas Bed, in his Thomas undies, with Thomas pajamas on, watching Thomas the Train. He is holding Thomas, Gordon and Diesel 10  and drinking his milk out of his Thomas sippy cup while he is watching the movie. If we go anywhere today you better believe that he will want to wear a Thomas shirt and his Thomas Crocs or Thomas Tennis Shoes. He will then want to watch Thomas in the car. The point of all this- have I created this obsessed kid by giving him all the Thomas merchandise, or would he still love Thomas if I hadn’t gotten him the stuff? It all started because I felt sorry for him because he only got Reed’s old toys (they are his trains) and clothes. I started buying the bedding and shoes because he liked Thomas stuff and I knew the other two kids would have no interest in his train stuff. I have never been the third child, and I was the first girl in my family, but I know by watching how my son is treated- they really do get the leftovers very often. They can’t compete with a very verbal 6 and 4 year old. Any ideas anyone how to make all my kids feel special? How do people budget their time in a way that they feel like they get to spend enough quality time with each of their kids?