Twinkle on, little star

As a new mom, when Noo started crossing milestones, I would crow on and on. Noo can do this and Noo can do that yet when it was time to prove it to others – mostly close friends and family – she’d almost never do it. Of course it wasn’t as if the audience, being who they were, didn’t believe me, but even so, I felt like maybe they judged me for being an over-doting mother – exaggerating her daughter’s milestones.

I got mad at myself for two things, a) for putting Noo in the spotlight despite hating it when my own mother did it to me as a child and b) for wanting everyone else’s validation that yes, indeed Noo was a great/brilliant/wonderful child.

I’ve come to realize that the only validation that Noo needs right now – to build her confidence – comes from us, her parents. Close family, maybe but mostly the two of us. Nobody else’s reactions to her antics make much of a difference nor stay with her. And I am more than okay that all these great leaps and bounds she’s making are being witnessed only by me, her dad and occassionally her grandparents.

I think in a way it’s lovely how our children ’perform’ only for us – an exclusive, if you will. We’re the ones lucky enough to have a real-life miracle right infront of our eyes and we should cherish every minute of it, instead of wanting other people to confirm what we already know – our child is a star.

- Mona