Milestone Maven

By Lisa W:

Every day care class has a milestone super star: that kid who is the first to do everything, the kid whose sole purpose in life is showing your kid up on a daily basis. This child’s name will be spoken in your house with reverence and annoyance. You’ll quiz your husband with questions like – “Do you know what Emma is doing?” Unfortunately his response is often – “Which one is Emma?” For some reason husbands don’t recognize or remember different babies, but I digress.

I try not to compare my child to anyone else, because it isn’t fair. But it would be much easier to do if this super baby would stop rubbing your face in all their stellar tricks. My first experience with being on the slow end was related to the “toy hot tub” at my school. The “toy hot tub” is where all the cool babies hung out in the young infant room. Once babies can hold their heads up and are starting to get the hang of sitting up, they get tossed in to play with the stuffed jungle animals and funky toys. You could even get to hang out with another baby and shoot the breeze. Every morning I would get to school to drop my daughter off and there would be some superstar chillin’ in the hot tub. But Katherine never got to join in. Wobbly neck and poor balance kept her stuck in the bumbo and bouncy seat crowd. I mean only the three or four month olds hang out in the bouncy seats. When Katherine was five months old, she still was not ready for the hot tub. One morning a baby months younger was in the tub when we got to school. I let out an exasperated – “Geez, even Jonathan can do the hot tub, Katherine. Let’s get this show on the road!”

But like everything else in life, you blink and time has flown by and your kid is finally chillin’ in the hot tub. Now I am waiting for words and walking. Since we tend to be on the slow side, I know it will take time. I’m patient. I’ve learned we typically are four weeks behind the other kids. It’s all good. But milestones sure can stress a mother out!