There a ton of things we shouldn't do, but the one I feel like I'm the most guilty of right now is comparing my child to others of about the same age. I hear about some child being able to say specific words to indicate something, or how a child can walk by this point and I immediately think Evie's falling behind. It's the worst. It's like an involuntary response to which I have to mentally tell myself not to compare my child to others. I know rationally that my child is unique and that all children develop at their own pace and that, in the end, she will conquer all the milestones when she's good and ready. But it's been hard to rewire my brain to not jump to that comparison.
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It's scary how much they look like each other. |
Little Girl (because she's becoming less and less of a baby every day) just turned 9 months last week and there are some truly amazing things she can do and some really funny things too. For example, if I lay down on the floor and lift my shirt up, she immediately rushes over from where ever she was, drops what she was doing, to face plant into my belly. I assume she's trying to blow raspberries on my belly like I do to her when I change her diaper, but she can't quite blow out, so it's just an open-mouthed face plant. She also thinks it's really funny when someone sneezes.
But I still hear about babies who can say Dada and Mama to the correct parent at this age, or babies who are already walking and I can't help but think my baby is falling behind. How do you deal with not comparing your child (or yourself, or your marriage, etc.) to others?