I really, really do believe that each child is a gift and a treasure, no matter how they relate to those averages. But if I hadn't been gifted, with a heavy dose of Outward-Directed-Perfectionism, then I don't think the 'we are better' attitude of my family would have bothered me. LOL!
Grinity
I fully believe that all children are gifted in their own way. This is just MHO but for me the most special and amazing children are those with down syndrome. I have yet to meet a down syndrome child that doesn't have that glow of amazement and such huge hearts. They melt me every time I am around them.
And as for the milestone charts... I stopped looking at them when DD was a tiny thing b/c it never measured my child and clearly wasn't worth it. I knew the big milestones and as long as my child mastered those in a timely matter I wasn't worried about her. I, myself, had hip dysplasia and was not crawling or walking in a reasonable time frame which clued my mother into the problem so I had to wear braces on my legs to be cranked at night. And I think that is really what milestones are for ... to catch issues and resolve them.
