My Mother’s Worry, My Stress

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.