Letting your child learn to grow up

(Jack Moreh/FreeRangeStock.com)

Last week, I found myself wondering if some of my actions might be holding back my daughter’s development.

It started when she got in the car after school. She told me a few things about her day, then added, “Oh, Joe asked me why I act like a baby.”

“Were you baby talking?” I speculated. My daughter, age 7, has a habit of baby talking that my husband and I have been at a loss to stop.

She said she wasn’t, so that leaves a few possibilities.

1. She seems immature compared to her classmates.
2. She lied about baby talking or acted like a baby another way.
3. Joe was in an ornery mood.
4. Joe is a little jerk.

Now, I don’t know Joe from Adam, but because he is around the same age as my daughter, I’m going to rule out No. 4. Age 7 is too young to be a jerk. (Isn’t it?)

Possibility No. 1 concerns me most. Any of the others will pass with time.

But if she is immature compared to others, am I to blame? Do I baby her too much?

This isn’t the first time I’ve wondered about it. I catch glimpses of her immaturity every now and then when I see her around her peers. They didn’t get discouraged if they couldn’t master the monkey bars right away. They didn’t cry every time they were tagged out in T-ball. They didn’t stand back and wait on adults to help them with some everyday tasks. The list goes on and on.

And each time I see it, I try to focus on encouraging my daughter to do more for herself. But maybe I don't do it often enough.

I have a habit of doing most necessary tasks myself because it’s easier, but I’m working on assigning more tasks. Hopefully doing so will help her to catch up with her classmates.