A few weeks ago I said something to my mom I immediately wished I could take back. Just making conversation, without really thinking, I mentioned that Pooky’s legs seem very strong. “Maybe she’ll skip crawling and go straight to walking,” I mused. There was a pause, during which I could almost hear my mom’s worry wheels spinning through the phone. I had no idea that this statement would set something off in her.
“Well, you know, honey, maybe you could do a little research into that? So-and-so’s daughter skipped crawling, and now she’s dyslexic.”
I tried to explain that I really have no reason to believe she’ll skip crawling, that I was just thinking out loud, that there’s nothing to worry about, but it was too late. The horse was out of the barn, as they say. My mom is a world-class worrier. I know she only worries because she cares, but it can be a bit much to deal with. When my parents came to visit, my mom brought it up again.
“Mom, I swear, I have no reason to believe she won’t crawl, and even if I did, there’s nothing we could do about it.”
“Oh no, honey. You can absolutely teach her to crawl.”
Absolutely? She was on a mission, taking every opportunity to put Pooky on her tummy and guide her arms and legs. In her mind, this was the time to cut dyslexia off at the pass. Now, I looked into it a little, and I can’t find any reason to believe there’s a connection between the two. There are some anecdotes out there, and some (to me) very inconclusive research, but nothing that makes me a believer. In my (admittedly unscientific) view, there are enough kids that skip crawling, and enough kids that are dyslexic, that there’s bound to be a pretty sizable overlap. I just can’t find evidence of a strong correlation.
The good news is, it’s probably moot now. Yesterday, at 8 1/2 months, Pooky made her first real crawling motions. She managed to move herself quite a distance. I’ll be happy to report this to my mom, who can hopefully take a break from worrying. And while it’s a bit bittersweet and poignant for us to see our baby growing up, at least that little shadow of doubt my mom planted in my mind is gone.
on Jan 19th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
[...] I think Pooky’s development has suddenly accelerated. As I wrote a little bit ago, she just started learning to crawl. She hasn’t quite mastered it yet, but she’s making progress. Now, suddenly, she’s learned three new tricks, all involving the hands. The first, which we’ve been practicing for months, is the bye bye wave. It caught us totally by surprise when she waved goodbye to her aunt after a visit. I guess we finally waved her hand for her enough times that something clicked. Now she does it all the time. The second trick is the hand clap. This is a fun one, as we usually chant “Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap your hands! Clap! Clap!” then scream “Yaaaay!!!” as she mashes her hands together and laughs. Lastly, she’s learned to give me five. I’ll say “Gimme five! Give! Daddy! Five!” and she’ll slap my hand and grin. We love that one. [...]