My kids are so clever

So, I’m not the only one who does this am I? Looks at and listens to their children and thinks ‘Oh. My. God. They are amazing. So clever. So bright. So funny. So loving. So beautiful…’? You do that too, don’t you?

Eleanor is at that stage. The one where they seem to learn something new every day. The one where you marvel at every block placed in the right hole, every utterance of the word ‘Yes’ and, of course, every moment they stay on the changing mat and don’t wipe poo all over you.

She’s almost 17 months and is an absolute joy – even, though don’t quote me on this, when she decides for no apparent reason that she would like to get up for an hour in the middle of the night. She doesn’t scream or cry. She just asks to read 20 books and then has some milk and goes back to sleep. Actually, she tends to ask for some music on, but I don’t think her dad or sister would appreciate being rocked out of their beds at 3am, let alone the neighbours.

I was thinking, though, the other day, when I clapped and praised her for yet something else – this one was her running off in the opposite direction when it was bathtime, to my consternation, only to return 5 seconds later with a fresh nappy and her sleepsuit, two things I always forget to take upstairs with me – and said ‘You are so clever!’ I was wondering whether this wasn’t actually totally normal and doesn’t mean I’ve got a future particle physicist living in the house. They all do marvellous new things. All the time. Yes, some of them do them sooner. Some of them do them later. But between the age of one and two there is a pretty constant stream of new things learnt and new skills mastered.

And I can bemoan their unwanted behaviour and inability to sleep through the night with the best of them, but sometimes I just want to cry out ‘These kids are bloody great!’ and not feel like I’m some kind of awful pushy mum for doing so. I want to revel in their achievements without worrying about upsetting someone whose child hasn’t reached that particular milestone yet. In fact, Jen, at The Mad House wrote a similar post today about how she wants to be proud of her boys and not feel bad about it. And, yes, that’s what I want to do, too.

So let’s feel free to shout their achievements from the rooftops. Whether they be tying their shoelaces*, jumping from the footstool to the sofa, working out how to write ‘poo’, going to sleep with no help, swimming underwater, or getting into Harvard. They are all bloody brilliant, our kids. All of them.

* Hmm, do kids even have shoelaces these days? I remember that being a major milestone for me, but don’t think I’ve seen a pair of lace-up kids’ shoes in a long time.