Comparison is the thief of joy. I've said this a million times and I believe it in my soul. 99% of the time I am truly not sad that Lauren is not where her typical peers are cognitively, socially, physically, etc. I do tend to compare her to other kids with Down syndrome her age, which is also unfair because every kid has different strengths and weaknesses. Every once in a while I'll see a kid with Down syndrome at work who is a rockstar with speech or gross motor skills or academics and I wonder what else I should be doing with Lauren. (Not that I'll actually do it, but I might think about it 😂)
Yesterday my nephews came over (they're 8 and 6) and Lauren played so nicely with them. They're both super good with her, make sure she can join in with play, and will even play Barbies with her. I ended up giving them all cups and spoons and let them dig in my yard so I could have 10 minutes of silence.
Then we met my mother-in-law and my younger nephew and niece (3.5 years old and 20 months old) at the park. They are the cutest ever and Lauren had so much fun at the park! My heart broke a little bit though because while I knew Lauren's motor skills were significantly delayed, I didn't quite realize the extend until I saw the direct comparison at the park. Both my nephew and my niece were navigating the playground like champs, exploring everything, climbing on everything. Lauren needs significant help to navigate the playground (and it's an adaptive playground, which I'm so thankful we have in our city!). I was surprised Lauren was still eligible for physical therapy services at school this year until yesterday.
Part of it is her weight, which we're working on. Part of it is her low muscle tone. Part of it is probably feeling unstable and being afraid she's going to get hurt again (her poor left leg!). We had a really great time yesterday, I don't at all mean to say that it wasn't one of our best days (she listened pretty good while we were there!) because it was. I think this is going to come up more as she gets older and the gap gets wider.
Look at this cutie on the swing!
