Parenting As A Sport

My sister-in-law and her now-fiance had a baby girl, approximately five months after Tennyson was born. We all get along great, I'd go so far as to say that they're our best friends. My sis-in-law watches our son while I work part-time mornings, and we babysit if they want to go to a movie or out to eat. Tennyson, now 1, even will walk around our condo on the weekends shouting, "Kuh! Kuh!", looking for his cousin. It's as close to perfect as it can get, in terms of the friendship, childcare and family relationship. So what's the problem? What's todays blog about? The "C" word. Competition. Some people aren't very competitive, they either don't care what other people think of them or don't feel the need to surpass everyone. They're okay with not being the best all the time. On the other hand, some people are very competitive, and need to be the #1/first/best/greatest to ever live at everything. Think Monica from my favorite TV show Friends. Where does this tie into parenting? All current or past parents already know. Parenting is a very competitive sport. Yes, I used the underline. I will very rarely use the underline in my blogs, and if I do, it's to emphasize the chosen word to the fullest extent. Make note. :) I am an avid MySpace user, and sometimes you will get a questionnaire sent to you via the bulletin. These questionnaires are for fun, and often ask probing and intriguing questions like "When's the last time you were drunk?" or "Who are you missing right now?" or "Describe your most missed childhood memory..." or "Parenting is...". That last one is what got me. I answered "a joy, a challenge, a privilege, a learning experience and a sport". That's right, a sport. What equipment do you need? Just a child. No biggie. Lots of people can make those themselves, no ingredients or materials needed! How do you play? With that aforementioned child, raise it to the best of your ability and ensure that your child will be the #1/first/best/greatest at everything. (Wow, two in one blog...) Literally. Who's the best swimmer in the class? Your child. You and your best friend give birth within a month of each other. Whose child sleeps through the night first? Whose child took his or her first steps first? Who talks first? YOUR CHILD. What's the prize for winning this game? The satisfaction of knowing you're a good parent, who's child thrived because of, well, you. What, no money? No Porsche? No sailboat? Even better. PRIDE. Do you all know what I'm talking about? Am I the only one to see this happening? It's definitely a sport I dabble in. Back to my family, my sis-in-law and I definitely have a quietly executed match going on. We don't discuss it in a competitive manner, and when one of the kids meets a new developmental checkpoint, we're genuinely happy for them and proud of them. But we make a mental note of each child's checkpoint date, and compare it to our own child's. For example, Tennyson was doing an army crawl at 6 months and was up on his knees scurrying around at 7 months. "Kuh" is now almost eight months and is still attempting to push herself up off the ground. She's a very smart little girl, and I have no doubt that she will soon be scurrying around like her cousin, but she is going to achieve that checkpoint later than her cousin, and I see my SIL realizing that. On the other hand, Tennyson loved purees at six months when I first gave it to him, but his stomach did not. He would curl up in pain from the cramps and digestive problems. So I waited, and it wasn't until eight months that he was eating purees more than once a day. I know there's nothing wrong with that, but I still felt like he was behind. When my niece started eating purees at four months, I noticed that she could handle that much earlier, and now at almost eight months she's pretty much where he is in terms of feeding. Yes, yes, we've all been told the same mantra: Every child is different. WE KNOW! But they still can be the best.