Mommy Milestone

The journey of parenthood is full of many milestones, just like childhood development. My husband and I regularly joke that we're leveling up and often celebrate when we feel we have acquired ‘advanced’ parenting skills! For example, when we first started changing diapers we were sooooo slow, we’d make sure everything was done perfect, if you told me a year later I'd know how to diaper a baby that was crawling away from me, I would have looked at you like a deer in headlights, unable to comprehend how that is even possible.

Well, last week I hit another parent milestone, I was on Facebook looking at some beautiful pictures of my friends son, and I thought to myself, he’s really a beautiful baby, but the poor mom, she just isn't lucky enough to a have a son with Down syndrome. It was the first time EVER that I had seen myself as truly fortunate to be on this journey. It was such a freeing moment, no jealousy, no self-pity...

I will not declare that this has been an easy battle in my head, nor that those feelings are gone for good. We all have our good days and bad days and see the grass greener on the other side. We live society our culture values three things, beauty, intelligence and money.

As parents we get so caught up in babies milestones, we are a culture that obsesses about 'success'. I dare say we worship success. 

Society has taught many of us out there in highly technical fields, our worth to society is our intellect.  I have to admit that I associated an individual’s worth to their intelligence and since becoming a mother of a son with Down syndrome I have learned the error of my former thinking.

My challenge to many of you (and mostly myself!) is to be aware of these milestones, but not to obsess over them, or compare your child to other kids.  Enjoy children for the individuals that they are, pay attention to where they excel, encourage them to work in areas they need to improve. Take joy in every milestone, don’t waste your energy worrying about those milestones yet met. Being ‘slow’ at something isn’t a big deal, it just makes you human. Now… I’ll let you know when Mommy reaches this milestone!