milestones

when you're an early childhood educator on top of being a mother, you cannot help but be mindful of milestones of your child. i guess most mothers are, too, but as a teacher you're more likely or inclined to also assess your child one way or another. 

my son just turned one year and 10 months yesterday and i was glad i was home just in time to be with him. (i just arrived from manila attending the curative education workshop). not that i was particularly nosy about what new tricks were up his sleeves but i was really paying close attention. well, i didn't notice anything new apart from his hiccups (which they say is a sign of growing-up!) and i just left it at that. 

this morning, however, i did my usual clean-up in the house while he was playing and i noticed that he was observing me. he would glance at me from time to time while he carried on with his play. he was playing with my pilates ball, his daddy's orange cones for basketball training, assorted balls (football, basketball). he was also moving the chairs about and had the brilliant idea of throwing the balls in between two chairs like in basketball! he was particularly happy until he threw the pilates ball which couldn't fit in between the chairs. he abandoned his play and went on to check his other toys. he played with the maracas and i noticed that he was about to hit the floor with it so i took the other maracas and started playing and singing. he joined me and started singing and playing with the maracas, too! the kookaburra song came naturally. after a while, he got the other maracas from me and gleefully ran around the room holding it with both hands. 

i resumed with my cleaning (i was wiping the chairs and tables) and then he started to join me. using a small cloth (the cloth used in reading glasses), he wiped away the dust and started sneezing! but he slowly took his time and cleaned the chairs with so much focus. 

after a while, seeing me wash my rag cloth, he also wanted to join me so i let him wash his own rag cloth. he couldn't reach the sink so i helped him push one of the chairs to boost him up. of course, he liked "washing" which eventually turned into splashing and extended time playing with water. the challenge for us parents is to how to properly transition from one task to another without forcing our child. what i did was ask our yaya to get the clothespins and show it to him. he immediately knew what it was for so he happily let go of the wash basin and followed me outside to hang the rag cloths.

then i got the broom to sweep the floor and i was so touched when he got the dust pan and gave it to me!

it was work/play and not only did i accomplish my housekeeping chores, i also had a great time with my son!

my son's ability to "comprehend" what's happening in his environment as well as managing to "cope" with the changes is a milestone.