Prodigy

Cleo and I were leaving the Towson Public Library yesterday afternoon, after a good romp on their rocking chair and slide kit, when a magazine cover caught my eye. A headline at the top of BBC Music asked, Which composer was the greatest child prodigy?

Child development! It's on all of the minds of virtually all of the new parents that we know. And why not? When every chapter in What to Expect: The Toddler Years ends with typical month-by-month accomplishments, when perfect strangers assume that Cleo is ten months old, because of her petite size, when the pediatrician of a friend hypothesizes a speech delay because her 13-month-old isn't talking yet... it's hard to avoid thinking in terms of norms, and exceptions.

But I've been working hard to swim against that tide, of late. Clearly, Cleo's taking her sweet time when it comes to walking (which she does, lurching, only when supported by two hands) and talking (although the range of syllables is intensifying, and growing more specific, and feels like a cloud about to rain). On the other hand, she is something of a minor expert in navigating stairs and slides; the other day, I was surprised to see two other mothers lurch towards Cleo as she crawled towards a series of steps at the weekly reading group. Oh, not to worry, I said. She'll be fine - and was, as she carefully paused, turned, and clambered down them.

Perhaps it's disappointing to simply fall back on a cliche: we all develop at our own pace. But that feels true to me - and, in any event, a liberal cliche is probably preferable to a prescriptive chart of developmental averages, which only cause insecurities. So, whether or not we agree with BBC Music verdict that Felix Mendelssohn was the greatest prodigy among all of the composers, we might at least acknowledge that he skewed many of the parenting expectations of the day. As did, I'll add, David Mitchell, the novelist who received so many accolades this past month, in conjunction with his new book - despite the fact that he didn't speak until he was five years old.

Fast, slow: one can be magical in so many ways.