How is it that all the things I learned about child development in four years of college went flying out the window as soon as I became a parent?
I am well aware of how children develop, when they should be doing what, that all children develop at different rates (including twins) and they will do things when they are ready to do them. So why am I feeling just the teeniest bit of angst that neither of my boys, at 3 years 9 months, are not showing any interest whatsoever in writing their names? Don't ask me why I have latched on to this and am now obsessing about it. I noticed that the class next to my boys at preschool had a name-writing lesson hung out on the bulletin board. This class is slightly older than my boys' class so I shouldn't even be comparing them in the first place. But I am. I asked the teacher about it and she gave me that knowing teacher-look and said "You know, some are writing their names in this class and some aren't. It is not a big deal--those kids just aren't there yet". Now, this is probably the same answer I would have given if a parent asked me, as a teacher, about their child's ability.
And it is absolutely true. Some kids are into letters and numbers and learning to write and some are more into the fine or gross motor things--running, hopping, scribbling with crayons. I remember when Aidan and Gavin were younger, maybe close to one year old. Aidan was the mover--crawling, cruising, and even walking at 11 months. Gavin was much more verbal than physical. He said a few words, made lots of noises and babbled a lot. I remember being concerned that Aidan was not babbling/talking alot and Gavin was not attempting to be more mobile. Then my pediatrician put it perfectly to me. At this young age, the brain is concentrating on working on, "perfecting" if you will, one skill at a time. For Aidan, he was learning all the gross motor things and was showing it by how active he was. Gavin on the other hand was working more on his language skills and put mobility by the wayside. And now that they are almost four, it is kind of ridiculous that I was worried about it. Was Aidan really not going to learn to talk? Or Gavin to walk? Of course not. And now they are pretty much on an even keel in all departments.
So, will it matter when the boys are 10 if they started to write their names at 4 or at 5? No one is even going to ask that question.
As my father-in-law has always said to me in relation to potty training (as I worried that the boys weren't yet)--"Well, they're not going to graduate college in diapers so don't worry about it". I suppose they will be able to write their names by then, too.
Ciara "disappeared" in our house for a few minutes while I was making lunch for the kids the other day. Her brothers claimed they had no idea where she was even though she was sitting next to them on the couch just minutes before. I found her in the upstairs bathtub where she had dumped every last bath toy we own.
