Two is a couple, three is a crowd?

The last week, my oldest daughter was visiting relatives on her dad's side of the family for her spring break. It might possibly have been the longest week of my life, and also the quietest! I didn't realize how much our family dynamics are different without that one child. She has never been away from me for more than 2 days.. This week without her, really put things in to perspective.
She definitely is my loudest child. Not just in the volume of her voice, but she talks the most, is the most opinionated, the most bossy, and the most controlling. Without her in the mix this week, L &  L got along quite nicely. There wasn't much argument over anything. There was no tattling..It was a very laid back week. Enter A's arrival home today, and it was almost constant chaos! I always have thought that my life might be a bit simpler if she wasn't such an emotionally demanding child. It's so funny to think about how your children can be so different, raised in the same environment. Obviously, her gene pool is a little different, and that's not her fault, but WOW. As much as I couldn't wait for her to get home, I am missing the peace and quiet and the CALM that was around here.
It's funny, because I went on a double date with a friend of mine and her daughter. Originally, it was supposed to be A and I, and the other couple. But our plans changed, so I brought L along instead. If it had been A and I on this date, I wouldn't have probably gotten a word in edgewise. But with L, I had to do most of the talking. With A around, there is never a dull moment, or a lack in conversation.. She brings so much color to our lives.
She's the most outspoken, the most dramatic, the most outgoing, and the most opinionated little girl beyond her years, and as much as I appreciate the little mini vacation I had from her, I am so glad she's back home where she belongs. I just need to remind myself how much I missed that voice, that love, and ALL of that emotion while she was away, when she has me about ready to pull my hair out. Which in the short amount of time she has been home, has happened quite a few times...
Kids, gotta love them right!? =)