A Dangerous Game

I know just as well as the next parent the folly of comparing one's child to other people's. But it's really hard not to do! Last night I was at book club with a group of women who all have children around the same ages as mine. Inevitably, we talked about our kids. Someone's son, a few months younger than Jacob, said his first word on the weekend. It was: "everybody". Everybody? Four syllables, maybe five, depending on how you pronounce it. Jacob's first word was "uh oh". Not even really a word... more of a sound effect. This same boy (who is not yet one) eats steak. Steak! Jacob is still struggling to progress beyond the mush stage. He's just not interested in solids, which means that on this very hot morning, I am steaming carrots, and have some sweet potato and a butternut squash in the oven. Ughh.

Another child, born a few short weeks ago, is sleeping through the night. Jacob is not. And never has. I need not elaborate.

However, I'm not the only one comparing and sizing up. We discussed head sizes at length... and determined that although some kids' heads were "off the charts" they did not appear to be bobble-heads. Reassuring, no? It was for them. I don't believe we're judging our kids when we contrast and compare, we're just - okay, I don't know what we're doing, but it's almost therapeutic.

I'll know it's a problem when I break out the flash cards to start teaching Jacob multi-syllabic words before he's quite mastered "mama" (which is two syllables, for the record, and also French).