No Comparison

I had an epiphany yesterday as I was on my way back home from getting a few groceries...so bear with me as I elaborate...

A girl standing behind Emma and me in the checkout line was watching Emma sit quietly in her cart cover (the first time I've used it btw) and asked how old she was. When I responded with 4 months, she smiled and said she had a 2 1/2 week old at home and was just wondering where he should be at what ages. I smiled and quickly told her that technically, you shouldn't put a baby in a cart (even with a cover) until they can sit up by themselves but I wasn't worried about Emma because I had her completely surrounded with padding :)

It got me thinking though...how often have I used another person's child to gauge where my child should be, milestone-wise, and when? No child is the same. Every parenting book EVER will tell you that over and over. The milestones they list for each week and month are just general guidelines. Still, it doesn't keep me from comparing my child to everyone else's. Rory's admitted to me that he does the same thing too! We worry for no reason because we think Emma should be doing something because some other kid was doing that at her age and it doesn't do us any good. Emma is fine. She's a pretty content baby that will no doubt be on the go 24/7 once she gets mobile!

It makes me feel bad that I think something could be wrong with my baby because she's not doing exactly what another baby is doing at exactly the time they do it. It's sad that I have to remind myself that my daughter is perfect...God created her and He is in constant watch over her. I'm sure every parent goes through this at one time or another, especially if you have friends with children close in age to yours. 

I'm working on being content with my daughter's growth but I know it will be hard with so many babies around. I don't know why I worry because she has reached every milestone within the time "recommended". I guess her weight gain has had me thinking about it recently. I know she will be little because no one in our family is big. I just hope she can maintain this kind of metabolism well into her teens like I did ;)

So that's my mid-week rant.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

God bless!