" I don't want curly hair anymore Mumma. I want hair like my friends."
How have we gotten to a place in society where 3 year olds are already comparing themselves to others, notice what others are wearing, hear what others are saying, and care what other people think? What happened to 3 year olds being 3, kids being kids. How have we come to be a society that praises the ideal, and forgets about all the inbetweens. We have always tried to teach our kids to be happy and comfortable being themselves, but somehow it has still crept into their childhood.
No matter how many children you have, it's hard not to compare siblings', compare cousins', or even friends' developmental milestones, successes, and failures.
It's hard not to worry when your child can say only a few words, when their brother was holding full conversations by the same age.
It's hard not to worry when your child is barely reading, and another in the same class is reading chapter books.
It's hard not to worry when everyone else seems to have sleep trained their baby, and you're wondering if they'll still have a binky or sleep in your bed in high school.
It's hard not to worry that if you don't read 10 books, do math facts, and master the list of spelling words each night that your child will fall behind.
It's hard to explain to a child born in July, how his friends born in September are actually almost a full year older.
It's hard to explain that standardized testing doesn't really matter, and that being a good human is more important than test scores. ,
It's hard to explain to a curly haired girl just how beautiful she is, how people would kill for her hair, and how leaving it curly is the best, when all she wants is for it to be straight.
We have to stop comparing ourselves to others, and comparing our kids to others, because if for nothing else, little eyes are watching, little ears are listening, and little brains are growing.
