i was getting a little smug for a while there.
on the competitive mummy scale i didn’t have much going for me now. right after the babies came out of the hospital, no one asked me if they were meeting milestones and goals because frankly, we were just so awestruck that they were alive, no one had any expectations for them.
but time passed and my little fragile triumverate, urged on by sebastian, managed to pack on pounds. and they moved away from looking like gollum and more towards the newborn babies category.
but it was only in mid 2005 when people started asking "so are they a) sitting up b) eating solids c) sleeping through the night" etc. some of the questions were kind attempts to get insight as to how normal our lives (and babies) were, and others came from other mothers, who are used to putting their babies on milestone charts. (they didn’t mean to be competitive, and it is natural to compare to your own child.)
"but they’re over a year adjusted" someone said to me at their party, "shouldn’t they be doing …" etc.
and then i get to explain that the babies aren’t expected to meet the milestones of a june 1 baby. because they aren’t. it is going to take up to three years for these little pumpkin pies to meet the developmental milestones of kids their own age.
so i didn’t have a lot to boast about, and i have never been one of those mothers that in the middle of an event will call a halt to it and say, "oh look at what jasper/carys/sela is doing…" so everyone else can appreciate them and comment on their development.
but because i am human, i was very pleased to notice my babies didn’t cry over spilt milk. they didn’t cry when someone took their toy away, because they’re so used to it. no big deal, they would mosey along and find another.
that was until they became enchanted with the sparks that fly from the slide of erised (think harry potter). and thus, the THAT"S MINE has commenced.
someone lent my mum a littletykes slide, and the girls love climbing up it, precariously turning around at the top, and then if you are carys, sliding down and landing on your feet, and if you are sela, sliding down, landing on your bottom with a guuuuufffff, her nappy acting as a sort of rectal air bag.
the girls are loving the slide, and the push and shove and cry when the sibling claims more than 50 per cent of the slide, lifts a knee and starts climbing up it. the concept of turns hasn’t quite sunk in. i had been so proud of their sense of easy come easy go. it was my boasting thing.
i am shutting my mouth now, unless it is open as i implore my girls, "gentle darlings…remember to take turns…" as carys is slapping sela across the head and sela is giving a hip check to the wall.
of course, the next time my insecurity makes me open my mug and start boasting, it will come out something like this, "oh, my kids are definitely at the mine stage." ah. thank goodness for public relations.
