The ASQ

Ages and Stages Questionnaire, that is. The developmental survey that tracks how our babies are doing in areas such as "Communication", "Gross Motor", "Fine Motor", "Problem Solving", and "Personal/Social". There's a range of them, starting at 2 months and going all the way up to 6 years old. With my first, I found them fun to do. With my second, obligatory. With my third, well, let's just say I forgot all about them.

So today in the mail I got a nice surprise. Northern Health mails one out to all people with an up-and-coming 36 month old, which I'd forgotten about. I think, perhaps, when the boys turned 3, I was still wallowing in sleep deprivation and didn't truly appreciate the opportunity, as presented. Today, however, I did. Kirstin, who is turning 3 next week, if you can believe it, happily obliged and participated enthusiastically on her "test". Basically, instead of viewing it as a chore, I viewed it as a chance to try some silly activities with her, hoping that I could mark off "yes", or at the very least, "sometimes", rather than "not yet".

I always feel kind of tempted to cheat on these. Give my children that competitive edge. Or, possibly, just not admit that I have neglected to attempt any of these skills with my children. Cutting with scissors, for example. Tonight was the very first time I have handed my daughter a pair of scissors. Needless to say, I had to mark off "not yet". Really, do other parents of three year olds let them use scissors? Doesn't that lead to unwanted hair cuts or pet grooming?

Don't call me neglectful, call me preventative!

And don't get me started on stringing beads on a shoelace. Of course my daughter can do that... well, we've never actually tried --- but that's because beads are choking hazards, right? What self-respecting mother lets her child sit there stringing choking hazards onto a... strangulation hazard. I mean, really...?

Some of the activities were pretty easy. And Kirstin laughed as she obliged me, with a look that said, "Well, duh, of course I can walk up the stairs, see" or "Okay, I'll draw a circle, but then when you turn your back, I'm going to scribble all over this questionnaire, because that's more fun!"

Some of my responses were positively gleeful!

If your child wants something she cannot reach, does she find a box or chair to stand on?

Well, no, not very often. What she does, instead, is turns on her girlish charm and sweetly asks her brother Connor to get things for her. And he happily scales the book shelves to help her out. Isn't having the ability to get a boy to do her dirty work far more advanced that actually doing it herself?

Or --- Does your child speak in 3-4 word sentences?"

Oh yeah, baby!

Give an example:

Alright...

Me: Kirstin, what did you do today?

Kirstin: We goed outside, but I couldn't find my other shoe, so I hopped on the other foot."

Hah! 17 words, take that, ASQ!

All in all, we had fun filling out the questionnaire and I learned a little more about my daughter that I really haven't taken the time to find out. I know, now, that she has a wicked overhand, that in the absence of a ball, she'll happily kick a running shoe, that she can jump forward with two feet, but would prefer to skip instead, she still holds her crayons with her fist, and that she isn't ready, any time soon, to give herself or anyone else a hair cut.

Now... my next challenge is to remember to mail the darn thing back to Public Health. Therein lies my truely neglectful nature... paperwork!

My "almost" 36 month old 'baby'!