Milestones

When one becomes a parent there are certain milestones in your child’s life you are programmed to expect: the first time your child rolls over, his first step, her first day of school. But not all milestones are anticipated – at least they weren’t by me. This year brought two of these unanticipated milestones into our lives.

The first was when our 8 year old stopped coming into our bedroom an hour or so before the alarm was set to go off. She is still getting up before us but now chooses to lie in bed and read to herself rather than waking me. My day starts with such joy when this happens. After all, I am getting more sleep! Also I love that she is reading for pleasure. My fears of having a child who didn’t enjoy reading have been proven unfounded.The second milestone was when our son became old enough to sit in the front seat of the car. Trips together have a whole new feel. I no longer feel like “chauffeur mom”. With him riding shot gun we are able to have mini road trips: We joke around. We sing. We converse. And given that he is in the midst of a teenage growth spurt – we snack.

Each of these changes, unanticipated yet obvious in hindsight, have brought positive changes for me and the children. I find we are not far from a third transition: as my middle schooler’s homework load and outside of school activities increase I am finding myself wishing to go to bed earlier than he is ready (and I am a serious night owl!) While I believe the milestone of routinely going to bed before your children is inevitable, I have yet to figure out if there are any surprise benefits from reaching it.