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Magical Moments
Precious Memories from Our Children Come in Big and Small Sizes
By I.J. Schecter
One of the things you may discover in your child's first few years is that the traditional milestones, though thrilling in their own way, are not necessarily the moments that affect you most.
"Often it isn't the big milestones, first smile, first step, first word, that evoke the most powerful emotional response, but the small, unexpected moments, like a warm grin of recognition in the middle of the day, that grip a parent's heart and never let go," says Dr. Cheryl Klaiman of Yale University's Child Study Center:
It is important, Dr. Klaiman says, not to get too caught up in the big moments, for at least two reasons. First, setting unreasonable expectations – instead of letting milestones emerge naturally – can lead to disappointment or worry that your child isn't developing fast enough. Second, by focusing on the big moments, you might miss all the extraordinary little ones in between.
Dr. Klaiman says this can happen when we start looking forward to the "big" milestones weeks, or even months, in advance, watching in breathless anticipation as our children strive to flsh that first grin, take that first step or utter that first word. She stresses the importance of all those other, smaller, unpredictable moments that have the ability to sneak up on us and therefore delight us in an entirely different way.
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