  If you have children, you are very aware of the ways in which they develop. Inevitably, a child's brain will go either physical or verbal development first, excel in that area, then develop the other. Girls are famously typical for going verbal first, and boys for physical, but anomalies abound. Every now and then, you'll find a child that is especially precocious in neither, and instead develops both in good time simultaneously.
This track, while difficult for the parents who sit in playgroup watching their child's peers excel in one category around them, is advantageous in that, in the long run, this child will probably be a renaissance man/woman, both physically and mentally adept. My son was clearly the physical achiever. He stood before he was ten months old, and took his first steps right at ten months. He was walking well, turning, even handling a sloped surface before his first birthday. As everyone who reads this now knows, his truest accomplishment was always his climbing skills.
He was never sub-par regarding verbal skills, but he didn't set the curve either. My daughter, on the other hand, must be the renaissance girl. I say this because she walked earlier than the bell curve, but not early enough to be physically advanced. And verbally she's always been amazing. Her confidence in her own communication has always been an asset, even if she wasn't exactly audible. Now, two days shy if one year old, I know what she means with many of her verbal gestures/sounds combos, but no one else does!
Ironically, I've come to think we adult women have similar dichotomous developments. I, for example, have been particularly precocious in the family arena. Here I am at 26, with two perfect children, a dreamy husband who fulfills me in *every* way, and a nice little house in the middle of a giant urban city in which to care for them all. And yet, my education is pretty standard, my career is a little hanging in the balance, and professional directions are a little fuzzy. Can you tell yet that I just finished watching this week's newest Sex and the City? Carie is 38, and very much like my other friends in their late thirties, beginning to wonder whether she really does want children since she hasn't made it happen yet.
Clearly, she developed professional before family. Just as my son has eventually become a master in verbal skills, I feel like my early performance in the familial realm doesn't preclude my professional development. Right? Surely I can still save the world, win the Nobel peace prize or the Nobel prize for literature, and have a few dozen grandchildren to hold in my lap as I finish the good race well? Oh God. I'm 26. This is really the last year to do something great with my career and still be precocious. MLK was 26 when he led his first protest march. Where's my calling? Earlier this week, my mother was preparing her MLK sermon and called me to ask what I thought about Jesus and MLK.
I said they both died for their cause by their mid-thirties, so clearly I'm behind schedule. And of course I felt guilty for this as soon as I said it, because I was talking to my mother who has found her second career mid-life and will begin graduate school next year as she nears that 50 benchmark. Am I a fool for taking this maternal course of life? I wanted kids and biology alongside my husband's career choice left me no better option than having my kids early. And yet, that's why he went to NYC this week and I stayed home with the kiddies. I'm so happy to have my children. They're more than amazing. I know they will always be the best thing I've ever done to help this little planet survive. On certain days I think I should have 12 kids just because these two have been so fantastic. I'm only 26. There's plenty of life still out there to live. You know who's to blame for all this self-doubt? The stupid US Gov. who doesn't give women a two-year maternity leave like every other decent progressive country out there. With a two-year maternity leave, you're not a slacker for spending a year or two enjoying the wee ones after each birth, you haven't made a major deviation from your career path.
On the contrary, you have a lovely little place waiting for you when you return, and your children begin public school all at about the same time that you yourself feel like getting a little distance from your progeny. Fuck doubt. I'm living as if I were in my own progressive country. I get two years after each kid to just stay home and hug them as much as possible. MLK had a wife who herself had this wonderful chance to hug and love on the kids all day. 
