So tonight while doing a few activities with Eli I sat for a while in wonder at this little human.

Not because he’s mine or anything but because he really is great at grasping whatever it is you throw at him. It’s like he just retains information extremely well! We recently started going over his colors and he already knows almost all of them (with the exception of brown)! Ha!

As I worked with Eli tonight I continued to think on his development and all the places he’ll go. I also thought about my role as a mom. The role I play in his development and how I may be able to add to and foster this growth.

I am aware of the need for me to help strengthen specific areas regarding his growth and development so that they can better serve him in the future. Areas like language, literacy, social emotional, fine motor and gross motor skills are all areas (among many others) that if worked on often can catapult Eli into the next level of learning when it comes to his overall education.

It is scientifically proven that the first 8 years of a child’s life is critical for the the building of the foundation for future learning, health and life success. The brain is 90% developed within the first 5 years of a child’s life. So think about how much we just give up on when we don’t take the time to develop a thing, the time to build that thing, the time to form a foundation of something or someone before placing expectations on it.

The thing with working on these skills is that I can not expect things of Eli that are not developmentally appropriate. I can set expectations or goals and work towards them with him but I cannot just expect things from him that have never been worked out in him, or even practiced by him.

This then lead me to my next thought. Isn’t it like us to set expectations on others that are not developmentally appropriate for them or for the place they are regarding their spiritual walk, maturity in specific areas and just in general? Isn’t it like us to want to just get rid of something or someone because they don’t do what we want them to do? Isn’t it like us to just throw the whole thing away because it isn’t responding the way we’d like it to? We haven’t received what we wanted from it (a thing) or them (people) so we are just done with it or them all together.

Developmentally Appropriate according to Scholastic describes an approach to teaching that respects both the age and the individual needs of each child. The idea is that the program should fit the child; the child shouldn’t have to fit the program!

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/defining-developmentally-appropriate/

There is much to gain when we remain committed to the development of others. People shouldn’t just be disposed of because they didn’t do what we wanted them to do. They should be worked ON and IN, in order for the desired result to be worked OUT. We have to work with people. We have to be patient. We have to believe the best. We have to hope the best, in order to see the best.

There is sooo much potential in every human being, we just need to be those that are determined in working out the skills needed in order for that potential to be developed in others. We have to respect where they are but be committed to working on the growth and development of that person through our thoughts, words and actions. No one is perfect but all people should have other people around them that help build them up and help mature them into who they should be in life. People, who are willing to not give up on them and work towards the desired expectation or goal with them.

It isn’t healthy to expect before working. The goal is achieved and the expectation is met AFTER the work is done, not before it. The right preparations have to be made in order to achieve the desired result.

Keep Reading…

James 5:7 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.

Psalm 126:6 NLT

They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.