My baby has been what some would call “textbook”. It started with the pregnancy; typical symptoms, typical measurements, no weird side-effects. Labour was 8 hours, no complications. My little one has hit every milestone at approximately the time it should happen. She’s “textbook”.
Before you get mad at me, read on. There is NO SUCH THING AS A TEXTBOOK BABY.
I have recently started socializing with other mothers (getting out of the house FTW). It’s not surprising that a majority of our conversations revolve around our children. Each of us has a very unique story about parenting due to the fact that each of our children are very different. That’s right, every child is different.
I don’t know who wrote those textbooks or what the purpose of them was. Was it to provide parents like me with peace-of-mind? Or was it to cause parents with “atypical” experiences to go crazy? Just because there may be a group of children that do things at approximately the same time, the same way, doesn’t mean that they are typical or “textbook”. I think it’s probably more real to say that to not be typical is “textbook”.
All I can say is thank goodness for the internet and chat forums. You can look up pretty much anything online these days. I don’t access parenting websites very often, but when I need them, I’m glad they are there. It is always comforting to know that someone is sharing in my “textbook” experience. Correction: It is always comforting to know that someone is sharing in my experience.
