family

the last of the first milestones

THIS happened on August 5th, 2013. The only reason I know the date, is because of the timestamp info from my iPhone.

First time she wrote her name out in a legible form… EVER. And it just happened to be when I had wandered outside to draw with chalk with her. My phone was in my pocket, so when I saw the “n” going down, I reached for it to snap the moment quickly. And then I yelled for Mr. M to come outside and see. And I congratulated Miss L on her work. And I sent the photo to everyone and posted it on Instagram too.

And then she kept drawing smiley faces and everything else under the sun and I realized that we’d reached the landmark age where very few more “1st times” were around the corner.

In a way, it’s a great thing! No more moms pushing you for “when did L do this/that/the other?” and me saying, “I think it was…” while I simultaneously didn’t care about my answer or the one they were about to share. I just never became a big “milestone mom” as some do, but just celebrated the accomplishments at their time and looked forward again. I think it’s all those height competitions people would wage with me through adolescence that made me get over any inherent fun in measuring something that was out of your control, for better or worse.

So now that there are fewer in front of us, I get to take a moment to celebrate making a new list of things that are far away from the typical milestone ones.

Like… first football game at the Rose Bowl. Or, first snorkeling trip. Or, first slumber party.

And even, first “E-Ticket ride” at Disneyland (August 9, 2013).

Time to make this list vastly more exciting than “first tooth breaking through” (because isn’t that a memory we all want to lose anyway?), and set up some milestones we can all enjoy together!

One Comment

  • Kim@NewlyWoodwards

    I had never thought of it as “milestone moms,” but I totally know what you mean. I am not one to remember dates or exact ages. I celebrate with Henry when he does something new, but I guess I don’t dwell on it.