Compare and Contrast

Whenever two parents meet, there is an inevitable moment when both parties size up the other's kids and compare them to one another. Age. Weight. Number of teeth. Pretty much anything upon which you can place a numerical value.

I try to avoid doing this when I meet another baby, and, when probed by others, I tend not to divulge information easily. I'm pretty sure this is because I don't like ranking children against one another. I buck against this sort of behavior and find it kind of unpleasant. After all, when you meet another adult, you don't start gathering data for qualitative analysis. People who do that are usually economists or accountants and aren't much fun at parties.

Why are we so quick to measure our babies against one another? Are we fearful that there might be some developmental delay surfacing? Do we wish to boast? Do we wish to validate our own unique brand of parenting? Well, in my expert opinion, your child is not a yardstick with which you can measure your prowess as a parent and comparing them to one another throughout childhood is an insipid enterprise.

I'm not saying every child is a beautiful, wonderful, unique, little snowflake and, sure, there is reason enough to compare and contrast their development. But in a world where we fret like crazy over test scores, salaries, yards rushed, and the sizes of our various body parts, can't we leave our kids out of it for at least a little while? Childhood should be a haven from competition and ranking in my humble but emphatic opinion. They'll have the rest of their lives to compete, the rest of their lives dabble in the adult art of comparison.

Listening To: Lennon Legend by John Lennon