Compare and contrast

One of the golden rules of parenting is don't compare your child to others.  It's a sanity keeper.  Erin will come home from Baby Sing or Wiggle and Rhyme and start saying what other baby's around Aidan's age are doing.  My answer is always the same: 'Remember what Jim said?  Don't compare.'

But I now realise this is more difficult than I thought.

Yesterday, we went to a leaving picnic for some friends who are going back to Australia.  It was a fun family affair, with a few small babies and toddlers around.  It was also the first time I'd been in an environment with a few children of a similar age to Aidan.  I came home and all I could say was the 7 month old was sitting up, he liked to be on his tummy, and did you see him almost crawl?  My evening was consumed in thought about what Aidan was and wasn't doing.

Even when Erin said 'don't compare', I couldn't help myself.