Thursday, April 12, 2007

Milestones

I seem to be focusing on milestones lately. Sweet Pea is making leaps and bounds with her reading. In fact, she took her first AR reading test this past week which is something she normally wouldn't do for almost another year. DH and I are so proud of her!

Baby Girl also reached a major milestone (in my life) this past week and seems to be completely potty trained. Whew! My days of wiping rears and changing stinky pull-ups seem to be almost over. Let me tell you, I'm very excited. :-)

But it isn't just watching those achievements that has my attention lately, it's also the anticipation of milestones I know/hope are coming. Sweet Pea will start 1st grade in August. There's something about that leap from kindergarten to 1st that reinforces the idea that she's not my baby anymore. Baby Girl will start the 3K program at the same time and I won't be spending as much time with her. Her school career is just beginning but I know that for the next 15 years it will (hopefully) occupy her attention - and my time.

Right now I'm working on some requested revisions for a book I'm really hoping to sell. Everyone says this one is it. But it makes me anticipate that milestone of selling my first book. I've worked for years towards that goal and somehow now that it's staring me in the face it feels further away. I've learned so much during the process of working on this book. More in the past few months than I have in those years leading to this point. But it's a clear illustration of how much further I need to go.

And it's scary. I want this so much that I'm afraid to fail and make the chance disappear forever. I'm certain this is a natural human response, all things considered, but knowing that doesn't really help much. I do know one thing though, that fear isn't going to hold me back. I'm going to work my butt off to get it right.

Sometimes milestones are difficult to embrace. I never really thought about that until I watched my own girls tackle those experiences. It's one thing to be caught up in the action of your own moments, it's completely another to stand by and do nothing to help as someone you love reaches for their own.

What milestone do you remember most?

Instigator

Don't forget, Vicki Lewis Thompson will be guest blogging with us tomorrow,
Friday the 13th. This is an event you don't want to miss!
There will be prizes so come out and play.

5 comments:

Angel said...

A major milestone for me was attending my first RWA meeting.

Now, to some people that might not seem like much, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. Before I got married, I did pretty much everything with my twin sister. After I got married, I did everything else with my hubby.

Writing and RWA was the first thing I did completely on my own, and it was a huge step in personal growth. Luckily, the people I've met have made it easy, but I'll always be proud of myself for taking that first scary step.

Can you send the potty training fairy to my house? Little Man shows no interest whatsoever...

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I'm such a milestone/goal junkie I add things to my life so I have something to achieve. It worked really well getting through school, then getting one degree, then another. When I finished, though, it was like...hmmm... now what?? That's when I started writing, working to the goal of finishing books and struggling toward the big sales goal. I need some kind of focus in my life or I feel lost.

Problem Child said...

Milestones? You know I'm pretty libral with the celebrating...

Finishing my first book was a major one, as was submitting it.

I keep a computer file with all my "sucessess" in it--whatever they may be, so I can remind myself of my accomplishments when it gets dark and cold in the cave...

Playground Monitor said...

Sending in my first story was big. It's hard to let your babies go into the cruel world. But it's become much easier now. I keep a submissions log that I look at fairly regularly to remind myself what's still out there, but also to remind me of my successes.

With children you celebrate lots of milestones and now I get to look forward to Grandbaby's milestones too.

PM

Angel said...

Another milestone today... I sold my first home!!!! Moving in less than a month, now that will be an accomplishment.