“… 82 … 83 … 84 …”
I stir in my bed, thinking to myself ‘What is she counting?’.
“… 85 … 86 … 87 …”
Me: “What are you counting?”
My daughter: “Nothing, I’m just counting to 100. 88 … 89 …”
There is a pause as she thinks about what comes next. I check the clock and realize I should get up and get a shower. But I am intrigued by my daughter’s new-found ambition to challenge herself – she will be 5 in a few weeks. After a moment she works out that 90 would come next and continues through the 90s as I stretch. At around 95 she decides to take a breather to rest her mouth. Eventually she continues and at 99 she pauses and then, with a coy smile, shouts “ten-ty”.
As a parent, there is nothing more satisfying than watching your child take a developmental step forward. A coule weeks ago, she wouldn’t pay attention well enough to count past 30 or to figure out more than a word or two – often in trying, she would sound out all of the letter right, but not bother putting them together to figure out the word. This week she is trying to read words in books and on TV on her own. Yesterday, trying to read to herself from a book about baby animals, she walks up to my wife and asks “Mom, what is a FO-AL” (pronouncing the A). We’ve also upgraded to chapter books for our nightly reading.
My son is no slouch these days either – he is actually developing opinions about characters and books that he likes and has upgrades from board books to slightly longer paperbacks (a month ago you couldn’t get to the end of a book without him ripping it out of your hand and running off with it – I’d often start one just so he could take it and hold it while I had another ready to read instead). He also has started being a little clown – purposely giving wrong answers to questions to be funny and attempting to tell knock-knock jokes.
The main thing that I’m learning in parenthood is that my kids have as much to teach me as I do for them. They are teaching me to appreciate the little things in life. And they are teaching me that I don’t need to try to teach them too much too fast – when they are ready to take the next step, it becomes clear. I don’t need to push too hard or worry if they aren’t developing fast enough – they want to learn and they will develop at their own pace regardless of my pushing. And seeing them make these steps on their own is beautiful in ways that I can’t count.