Life
“Is she walking yet?”
This is the question I dread most these days. DREAD IT, I tell you. Because, no, Tricia isn’t walking yet. She’s not showing signs of walking anytime soon, in fact. When I’m asked this question, my instinct is to say, “No, but she knows ‘bububub’ (her brother) and ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ and ‘lalalalala’ (her sister) and ‘puppy’ and ‘cat’ and ‘bye-bye’…shit, does she know as many words as she should? Okay, skip that. She can sing and dance along with her musical toys…even if it’s just wiggling her butt a little and the singing is kind of tuneless… WAIT! There are perfectly healthy, neurotypical children who don’t walk until 18 months. But what if she’s not neurotypical? Oh, God.”
Now, all of that runs through my brain before it frames my actual response - “Nope, not yet.” I say this with a smile, of course, because admitting you have any concerns about your baby is just not done. Also? I’m superstitious and saying it might make it so.
Now, am I genuinely concerned about our littlest rat? No, not really. Tricia is a pretty easygoing kid. As far as I can tell, she doesn’t do anything unless she sees a reason for it. And right now, I’m betting she simply doesn’t feel any pressing need to walk. Crawling gets her where she wants to go most of the time, and when it doesn’t, she’s got four suckers saps people willing to tote her around. I’m also taking into account that she’s been right on track or early with everything else.
But even in writing this, I’m justifying and excusing and explaining…what, exactly? My failure as a parent? Tricia’s failure as a baby? Why am I finding it so hard to simply accept that Tricia has her own timetable? Why do I worry that I’ve done something to totally screw her up? Most importantly, am I the only person who freaks out over stuff like this?
Tags: Steph is participating in x365 and thinks you should, too.
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AddsYou
No, you’re not the only person who freaks out about stuff like this. And you’re not a bad mom. Your reasons for why Tricia isn’t walking is exactly correct.
I find children that are more content and easy going just deal with what they can do. Right now Tricia is happy crawling and it gets her where she needs to go AND if she needs to move faster, she’s got other people to pick her up. So in her little brain, she’s being super smart and all “Fuck walking I got other transportation.”
I guarantee you that she’d be walking already if
1. she was more impatient
2. no one ever picked her up and she had to crawl everywhere to follow people.
Lorna walked early. You know why?
1. Because she was impatient and was pissed off she couldn’t motor like mom on two feet.
2. I refused to pick her up after a certain point (when I got tired basically) and that made her mad. So she learned to walk.
Tricia is content, easy going and has ways of getting around that suit her just fine. There’s no need for her to walk and neurologically she’s just fine and VERY smart.
d - See, this is one of those things I know on a rational level, but my “must freak out about everything” side is like, “Psht! WhatEVS! She should be walking!!!!!!!!” Totally ridiculous.
And LOL about Lorna…because, yet again, our little Taurus babies are a lot alike. Lenna walked at 9.5 months so she could follow Matt around faster. :dies:
Matt, OTOH, didn’t walk until 13 months, but he never, ever toddled, dude. He just got up and walked like a big kid. That’s how it was with talking, too. He went from saying barely anything to busting out coherent speeches.
I know Tricia will be like, “Okay. I need to walk now” whenever she’s ready. Well, I know it most of the time. LOL.
Dear Mom,
Don’t worry.
Signed,
Mom of Kid 1 who:
a. Never crawled and
b. Walked at 16.5 months and;
Kid 2, who walked at 14 months.
She’s doing just what Tricia needs to be doing. Plus, the wii might not survive walking. Hee.
Noel - we live in constant fear for the Wii as it is. I’ve thought about putting some more tempting items (like phones and remotes) in places where she’d have to be standing up to get them. Hee.
Poor, poor Wii. It was a greast gadget. While it lasted. Hee!
Noel - LLOL. It is a surprisingly durable device. It’s been dropped at least twice, and it still works like a charm.