Have you ever been around someone’s else’s kid(s) and everthing their kid did seemed cute and smart, and your kid seemed decidedly average and annoying by comparison?  I feel pretty lucky in that I virtually never have that feeling with the twins.  In real life anyway.  There are some internet toddlers that give me feelings of insecurity — but I’m inclined to write that off since, try as she might, it’s hard for a mom to give the whole picture.

I do have to admit I get it more with Big Kid . . . sometimes.  There are also plenty of times when I look at other 9-yr-olds and am so, so grateful that Big Kid is not like THAT.  lol.

So last night I was at my aunt’s for dinner and my cousin was there with his girlfriend and their son, who’s just 4 months younger than the twins.  And they were so enamoured of every little thing the twins did.  It was as if I could see them comparing their own kid and feeling like they came up a little short.  It made me a little sad.  This is probably the thing I hate most about being a parent — the competition.  The media would have one believe that the stakes are SO high, that it is SO easy to screw it up completely, that it seems inevitable that one would constantly be checking everyone else’s stats.  Do I measure up?  Is my kid ok?

And I just want to say to them:  your kid is great.  His head is shaped a little funny, but I’m sure he’ll grow out of that.  My toddlers seem smarter because they are a little older, and a lot happens in those couple months.  They share ‘better’ not because they’re better or more mature, but because they’ve had to practice at it every day of their lives.  Sharing isn’t supposed to happen until about three, the fact that your singleton allowed two babies to come into his house and monopolize all of his toys with minimal complaint is astounding.  The way he reaches for things he knows he’s not supposed to have and then stops to see if you’re going to say anything is charming to me.  The way he puts down said thing and slowly pushes it away, in the process knocking it off the other side of the shelf, is so cute.  The boy has ‘good intentions’ spilling out from every pore.  He is good, and you are doing good.