Parenting calls

[twilight33]

Navigating the world of parenting is a challenge since there are always others questioning what you do, more so than any other career I've had. Plenty of people told us not to worry about it when Kieran wasn't talking at all at 18 months, but by 20 months it was leading to so much frustration for him not being able to communicate that something had to be done.

He'll be 2 next Friday, and he is saying so much in both English and French that I've given up trying to keep a log anymore. His frustration now is over being told no & testing limits, typical of being a toddler & no longer over language. The speech therapist said he'd need 6 months of weekly sessions, and after some research/reading and taking a step back while we were on vacation, we respectfully disagreed and have stopped after about 3 months.

We are thankful for what it has accomplished, but there's simply no need to push Kieran when he's on par for language development. He may not be over & above the norm, but so what. He's thriving & learning and having lots of fun, and that's what life is supposed to be about in the summertime for any kid.

Comments

[miss-becki.livejournal.com]

I think one of the reasons parenting is so hard is because it's so new to us, and it's so important. We just want to do it right, and we are getting conflicting advice- "Make sure they are doing this" vs "Just relax!". *sigh* That just adds to the stress! It souns like Kieran is doing great, though, and you are doing a great job WITH him!

And wow- speaking in two languages! We speak to our kids in English and Spanish a lot (my husband his hispanic), and my 3yo still only speaks short phrases in Spanish (my 2yo doesn't say much in Spanish at all). They usually are able to follow directions that we give them in Spanish, though (at least as well as they follow directions given in English!). Keep up the good work, girlie!

Totally different topic: I noticed that you list the UPC as one of your interests. What is your connection or interest inthe UPC? (of course, I'm totally just being nosy, and if you don't feel like answering, just tell me to mind my own business!)

[twilight33]

My husband doesn't speak French so Kieran's limited to just me babbling some basic stuff & (most often) singing. He's categorizing well though, if I sing 'head, shoulders. knees & toes" in one language or another he'll stick to the correct one. It's just amazing to me how they can pick languages up so easily!

Different relation of UPC than you, mine is in University Presbyterian Church. To be honest, I have no idea what else it stands for :)

[miss-becki.livejournal.com]

Wow- your church has a nice site. The UPC I am referring to is the United Pentecostal Church, a denomination that I used to attend. That's funny, because I think now that a UPC search must have been the way I found you, and now I realize that we werent even talking about the same thing, but I'm still glad I found you because we have a lot in common!

[twilight33]

It's a gigantic church, almost 5,000 members & probably somewhere around 6,500 go there including a huge UW ministry. The denomination is PC(USA) which appears to be rather different than the other UPC. Remember He'll lead you in faith regardless of what it's called by people :)