my child IS special

[Prusik]

It's nearly 5am and I can't bloody sleep as DS woke me and I'm feeling too poorly to settle back down so thought I'd try to come up with a goady title. That's the best I've got, sorry

Not really a TAAT but I'm just musing.

Time and time again on MN, you hear posters being ripped apart for thinking their kid has a talent, eg reading early, or the sneering at a parent being PFB with their child.

I think DS is amazing. His development is fascinating and I love watching him grow. But every kid is fascinating. Texts from a friend saying their kid has just said "cow" for the first time is lovely. Their baby is aquiring language. What is more exciting than that?

DS has just learned to clap. It's incredible. Yes, just as incredible as any other baby that learns to clap but still...

I guess I'm just feeling the awe at these little babies learning to do things we take for granted. Not just my baby, but all of my friends babies too.

feel free to fill this thread with dull yet amazing little achievements your child has made! Or rip me to pieces. I'm slightly to sleep deprived to care

clara I disagree... I don't think my DC is more special/amazing than others.

I do love him more than other kids and am more interested in what he does.

But I don't think he has greater talents or better personality traits than others.

We went for dinner with a friend and her little boy, and 4year old DS said "thank you for my dinner, it was very yummy. Please may I get down?" without prompting. I know it's really not much of an achievement at all but I was very proud of him anyway.

Aren't most of the proud bits of parenting about watching them slowly and gradually turn into lovely adults?

I'm with you op.All three of my kids are actually wonderful. My 10 year old is really kind, my 7 year old is funny and my 3 year old is good at cuddles. I am regularly in misty eyed wonder!

It's fine in my book to celebrate our kids' achievements, be that them finally trying (and liking) sweetcorn or passing their 11 plus

As you know though, if you live in a wholly grammar area, you absolutely cannot celebrate passing the 11+!!!!! It’s about the biggest no no there is.

Dear Lord, when they discover their HANDS and all the amazing, wonderful, horrifying, unbelievable things they can do with them!! I still marvel at my own hands and I'm an empty nester now! Watching mine develop their manual dexterity, and seeing their faces as information 'clicks' was, I think, the most interesting bit of the whole crazy thing. I could watch for hours, impressed and amazed at the control and dexterity they seemed to gain every day. It really is mind blowing, isn't it?

I especially love the way they can dramatically shift between genius and idiot in the same breath! They'll run up to you and, completely out of nowhere, repeat some advanced scientific fact they seem to thoroughly understand, while wearing only one sock and a hat and scratching at their bumhole with their bare finger... then sniffing it, or wiping it on their clothes! Or worse, on yours! Oh, kids! :)

I can't agree more @Prusik, that there is absolutely nothing in the world that can even come close to watching another life - particularly one that you created - learn and grow and really become their own whole person. Of course it's special, every moment. Even the awful moments contain something fascinating to ponder if only a few years down the road, once you've finally had some sleep. Every single life is special, and even moreso as they are developing and becoming the person they will be.

I'd rather be a Focker
Ha! I like that!

Thought I'd share one 'mummy's little darling' moment of mine...when my son was 2 and being assessed for ASD, the form asked if he displayed any special talents. I started to write about how he could unscrew the top of my mascara until dh pointed out that they were probably looking for maths/literacy genius. It still makes me laugh 6 years later.

My 3 year old and 8 month old are amazing, to me.
DD1 was born premature and growth restricted. She's now a happy, healthy, kind, funny, crazy, caring girl we will brush past the fact she still won't poo on the potty. She's learning new things all the time. Yes, she's about average on the development milestones, so no more amazing than any other 3 year old. But that in itself is an achievement after her rocky start.
DD2 is 8 months old. Born at full term and of an average weight. She was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at 2 months old and has already come through 1 open heart surgery with more to come. She's a bit behind on her milestones due to her stint in hospital, but is now trying to crawl and starting to say "mama".
I also find it amazing to see my neices and friends children grow into amazing humans.

What a lovely thread. I'm so glad people have taken it the way it's intended.

They're such amazing little creatures.

Ds is ten months and his particular strength is his signing. He has ten sign now. I hate talking about it because it's not the norm with my friends. He's also at the moment a cracking little eater. However he's still on about six bottles a day as he likes to snack. I really feel like I should spend more time enjoying him but I'm suffering from pnd and am 28 weeks pregnant with our second. I worry he won't live up to his potential because I don't do much with him.

Prusik
I know I went on a rant.
I just really wanted to stress that when people are making comments about parenting thinking their child is so special it isn't aimed at people like you (and others on this thread who are very reasomable people). It's usually a criticism of the braggy, pushy parents who want to prove to everyone, via their child, that they are the most suprior parents and their child is so much better than everyone else.

Most people love reasonable updates abd celebrating.

My DS (22) is AMAZING.
being a parent is by far the best thing I have ever done.

My friends dd walked yesterday for the first time whilst she was with me. My dd (3 months older) was running around and seeing them together was amazing. They were helping each other (as well as fighting over the pushchair)

"My mummy says I'm a miracle". It's lovely when parents are excited and take an interest in their growth and development. A lot of adults just Don't have that connection and miss out.

Maisy, i get what you're saying although if we want to get philosophical about things every baby is more special than all others. but I can imagine the kind of parents you're on about - more like an entitlement

Child development is fascinating. If I could go back to uni I would love to study it further.
I find it hard to mention things DS does without sounding like I'm bragging. He counts things in Italian and says a few words and phrases. This is not something we actively taught him. It came about because when my mum came to visit we went for a long car journey and he got bored and objected to the songs on the radio. Realised we had no children's CDs in and my mum offered to put on her Italian CD (she's been trying to learn for years). It's all songs and DS loved it! I was really surprised at how quickly he picked it up (better than grandma at remembering a lot of it) and demanded "Italian numbers on You Tube!"

We did suggest that Mandarin might be better for his future economic prospects but nope it's Italian!

Prusik - i was worried that it might have sounded like I was against sharing. I'm not.

I think you're right on entitled. Most people like hearing little tales about sweet things or first things kids have done. We just would rather hear about how 'DC has done something lovely at guides this week' tjan 'sigh. You know how it is these days in school. DC is soo bored all the time becaudr they're just so much smarter yhan their classmates. I don't know hiw we are going to do secondary but we only have 5 years to go and we'll probably have to move house and get a tutor if they stand a chance of getting into a school with other gifted children'.

The stories on here are lovely.

These stories are lovely!

A few days ago, my 5 week old DS hit the little bird on his play mat. It was the first time he's properly interacted with a toy and I nearly cried I was so proud He kept trying to hit it and if he missed he kicked his little legs and kept trying until he got it again

It goes without saying that DS is my PFB

Yes, EVERY child. That means the child with severe Cerebral palsy and the child with MND or Down Syndrome. These children all have their own goals and achievements as do children who do not.

I have three children who do not have any of these conditions. They do well at school. They have their own goals set for them. My daughter just got put into the top reading set. She was so excited, so was I but that stays in the family not on Facebook.
I also work with SEN children and children with PMLD. These children have their own goals too and their achievements are just as fascinating for their parents, for their carers , teachers and support teams.

Every child has a different goal to reach and different expectations related to their personal situation and as every child matters we look at the child as an individual.
The girl who has just learnt to say something at 7 years old or the 16 year old who got 3 As in their GCSEs. They are all wonderful achievements.

My DS is 16. 6'4". Started 6th form college and having a maturity spurt. I met him for lunch this week as we both had the afternoon off, and it was just wonderful. I spend lots of time with him of course, and enjoy his company, but somehow that afternoon had an added resonance. He is witty and smart, and kind and sensitive, and I saw the boy he was and the man he will be right then. And I came home and cried all over my DH.

This is lovely, my DC's are all grown up but I'm still enormously proud of them all, all of them are coming, voluntarily, for Sunday lunch and I'm so looking forward to it.
One of my best friends at work is pregnant and I love looking up what stage she's at and what size her baby is now. We have lovely chats where we marvel at the sheer miracle of growing a tiny human and how amazing it is.
I'll happily share the joy of little milestones with her and her wife when the baby is born. All babies are incredibly special and I'm just grateful I get to share in this ones specialness.

DD is nine weeks old. I love having “conversations” with her, and listening to her make more and more complex sounds each day.

Every kids has somethinf about them that is more amazing than other kids
Could he they have a great talent or intellect or it could be that they have a disability that they deal with every day or that they come from a home where the parents don’t give a shit yet the do well at school

It’s sad that as a society we feel we have to downplay our talents
DS started School able to read books like the lord of the rings and knew stuff that lots of adults didnt. Yet every time someone commented on how amazing he was I felt I had I also mention something he couldn’t do instead of just saying yes he’s a marvel.

It’s sad that as a society we feel we have to downplay our talents
It's not about that though.
It's knowing what is a healthy amount of happy sharing and what is bragging/gloating in a way that irritates everyone else.

If someone is on the healthy sharing side then nobody minds.
If someone loves to go on bragging and why their child is so much better than everyonr else then it's highly irritating.

I get this. My little girl is delayed, but for the developmental age she's right on target even though she seems very behind her chronological age.

She said "chicken" for the first time when looking at the chickens at a farm yesterday. She says "thank you". She recognizes people now and is starting to call them by their name.

It's amazing to see, I am super proud. My same (same chronological age) aged friends DS loves trucks and vans and can name the type and colours. I'm proud of him too.

DS2 (he’s 3.5, has hearing problems, speech delays and is autistic) said his first sentence the other day. “Mummy I fell and paw patroller hurt my bum!” I cried like a baby, because his speech and pronunciation means a lot of people struggle to understand him and he also didn’t use sentences up until that point!

We all think this. My daughter is 5, she ate some knee foods, she’s smiley and loving, so kind and easy going. Draws people that I can recognise... I think she’s fabulous and the best girl.

On paper though she is autistic, has has development delays, troubled eating and seizures