Diary of a working married mother: Those milestones never end

It is amazing to see children hit their milestones pretty much at the time doctors and paediatricians say they are meant to hit them. Our girls are older now so we stopped looking out for milestones such as teething, walking and talking, years back. It is exciting, however, to see them hit other milestones, those we had not really thought about but are now almost all we can see.

Our four-year-old is in the experimental phase. She wants to see how things work and is always trying things out. She once closed the tap that lets in water to the tank and for days we thought we had a major problem until we found out about the closed tap.

Another time, she closed the tap that brings water into the toilet cistern, making us think it had a problem, till we found that closed tap too. A few weeks ago, she removed the key from the main corridor door. We only realised it when we were locking up before we went to sleep that night.

We spent 20 minutes searching everywhere for it. We gave up and decided to look for it the next day, only for me to find it on one side of the keyhole on our bedroom door. The night before, she removed my books and magazines from a small portable shelf from our room, put them on our bed and took the shelf to her room where she put her books. The night after, she pushed her bed close to her sister’s because she wanted to know what it was like to sleep close to her. Every day she does something as naughty as this. Sometimes it is maddening; other times it is hilarious.

Her older sister, the eight-year-old is now a pure example of what peer pressure can do. We have always told her the things to do and not to do at school, and she has always obeyed. This year though, the obedience is not happening as often. She wants what her friends say is cool. She will beg for days on end. She will go ahead to do something we have asked her not to, because her friends said she should try it. Sometimes I admire her determination; other times though, I get frustrated that she is not listening as much as she used to.

I am now learning that each year comes with a milestone of its own, and they are more subtle the older the children get. They might not be as dependent as when they were babies, but they still need Mr and I to look out for them as much. It’s a somewhat terrifying thought.

That said, each milestone also brings out something about their character. Even though the younger one keeps pulling and plugging and changing things, she is careful about where she puts them. She hardly loses anything she is given and always remembers where she last left them – a great memory there. Her sister, even though she defies us sometimes, is always honest about what she has done. The girl just doesn’t know how to lie. And that’s a beautiful thing.