NBLB

No Baby Left Behind? Apparently kids these days aren't immune from testing even as infants.
Brian and I spent our lunch hour at Ellie's "school" today for parent-teacher conferences. Bobbi, the lead teacher in Ellie's room, starting the discussion by saying that she doesn't agree with testing babies — and that Ellie is not behind developmentally.
She then proceeded to tell us how the recent tests showed a couple areas where Ellie is behind.
Well, sort of. I may have taken the discussion a bit too personally... Let me explain.
The Denver testing shows a bunch of social, language, fine and gross motor skills that babies should be developing at different ages. Ellie has hit a whole bunch of them right on target, or even ahead of schedule. She's sitting up unassisted, jabbering, holding objects in both hands and passing between the two.
Some of the testing areas have outdated benchmarks, Bobbi explained. Now that babies are sleeping on their backs, very few if any roll over between two and four months of age... yet that's on the test. Ellie still isn't rolling over on a consistent basis... so there's a big fat "F" (fail) marked in that category :(
Most of her test shows "P's" (pass) but there are a few other F's. Ellie can't clap yet — but how many 7-month-olds can? She also isn't waving good-bye. We're working on it, people!
I'm trying to keep my sense of humor on this whole testing thing, but in some ways I really take it to heart. I actually got a lump in my throat during the conference, when hearing about areas where Ellie needs work. This crazy, protective feeling swelled up in me and I wanted to shout: "She's perfect!" Thankfully, I did not. I'm sure Brian appreciates when I don't let the "crazy mom" in me take over!
So many fellow moms have told me that babies hit milestones at their own pace. Yet, these benchmarks are still out there and hard to ignore! I want Ellie to be where she's supposed to be developmentally. But where exactly is that?
OK, I'm mostly venting here. I'm not really that worried about Ellie. She's a happy, healthy baby girl who can do a whole lot of things already. She truly amazes me every day. I don't care if she's pulling herself up to sitting or making funny grunting noises as she fills her pants... too bad that last one wasn't on the test!
And I don't mean to sound down on her day care either. They do an amazing job working with her and teaching her things. And Bobbi began and ended today's conference by saying that Ellie is doing great. Now there's a test result I can get on board with.