My Parenting Pet Peeve

Okay, it's time for a mini rant about one of those things that does not really matter. It's just one of those parenting pet peeves that drives me crazy even though it probably shouldn't. In fact, probably a good half of the people reading this are guilty. I hate it when parents refer to their kids' age by months after about the first year.

For that first year of life your child has nothing but days, weeks and months adding up his age. You start the super fun countdowns keeping track of how long you've kept the sweet bundle alive. Days turn to weeks and weeks into months. You post those happy pictures like this:

And that's all well and good. And thanks to Pinterest and other social media networks you probably get caught up in taking the sweet monthly picture like these to keep track of your baby's development:

But then your little darling turns a year old. You did it! You survived that first year! Congratulations are in order! Now stop referring to your child's age by the month. Okay, I'll maybe give you a break on a three-month breakdown at first. At that early age many things are divided up developmentally by three months. I'll grit my teeth and let you call your baby 15 months old. (I'm pretty sure I had pictures taken of Client One at 15 months, but I still thought I was being ridiculous.) I'll give you a full pass on 18 months. After all, there is a clothing size labeled 18 months and a bunch of milestones broken down at 18 months. I'll even let you squeak by labeling major milestones by the exact month (like first words or steps). But that's all you get. And once your child hits two, your month to month countdown is officially over. Your child is not 24 months old. He is two. If you really need more of a breakdown go by half years. Your child is two-and-a-half. I have referred to Client One as being "almost three" or saying "she will be four in May" to help give people a more exact idea of her age when necessary. And. let's face it, using months after age three is just obnoxious. Why say your child is 36 months old? That's just asking people to do math and everyone knows that unnecessary math is just pure evil. Your child is three or three-and-a-half or almost four. Any further monthly breakdown is ridiculous! Ridiculous I say!

Okay, I know if you do the month by month age you have your excuses. Some of them may even be valid. I guess, in medical situations an exact age might be needed, but in general, everyday circumstances I don't care. Nobody cares. Half the time when people ask your kid's age they're just making small talk and attempting to feign a basic level of interest in you and your child. You give them a month breakdown and they've just stopped listening to you. But, I know my words are wasted. You're  probably going to keep saying your three-year-old is 39 months old and it's still going to drive me crazy. But please, no matter the legitimacy behind your reasoning, just stop. No, I said stop. Well, at least stop around me. Thanks.