Mama Monday #74

Theme: Ambivalence

One behavior of mine that I'm none too fond of (although I tend to think most moms do the same thing) is this - upon hearing the "wondrous" milestone-surpassing achievements of nearly any child, I - somewhat completely beyond my control - feel I MUST put in my own two cents about the wondrous milestone-surpassing achievements of my Sweetie. That is - I act completely ambivalent and unimpressed with whatever the other child's skill is and am all, like, Oh, Sweetie does that/did that too. In fact, most kids I've seen about that age can do that. It's not really so amazing - except, you know, it IS amazing that Sweetie can do it. But not your kid. Psssshhh. Whatever.

Ummmm. That's bad, huh? Not very nice of me, right? But - on the other hand (come on, you can admit it) - it's so totally true!

I think moms (well, parents in general) absolutely pull out all the stops when discussing their kids with each other. - Oh, Tommy could read at 2 1/2 years old! - My, that's amazing! Annie could memorize whole poems by the time she was 2 years old. - Wow! That's awesome! Come to think of it, there was one story - and it was a long one - that Sweetie knew by heart, and she was only 1 3/4 years old.

To be real - I do honestly feel that kids are developing, as a general rule, at a faster pace than even the current "official" guidelines suggest. For instance, Sweetie, at 4-years old, can do some math, can read fairly well, has an excellent memory, and is very tech-savvy. But I make no claim that Sweetie is smarter/better/funnier/cuter than the average 4- year old. She is smart, funny and cute - but so are many, many others.

Sweetie walked at the typical age when kids start to walk. She's the average weight for kids her age. She is taller than most 4-year olds, but considering the height of her paternal grandfather and great-grandfather, that makes complete genetic sense.

I guess I just figure that the other things she can do - remember things so well, the fact that she had a large vocabulary so young, and can get around the computer with ease, among other things - are all pretty typical of pre-schoolers/kindergarteners in this day and age.

Maybe that's why I act the way I do when talking about other kids? Yeah - that's it. Cuz - man oh man! - try to one-up me with the accomplishments of your own kid and I'll come back with an air of bored ambivalence every single time. (well, you know. I do try to give you and your child the enthusiastic props you're digging for, but then....)

Kids these days - they're all just too dang smart!