It's not a competition

As a parent who has been around other parents, play groups, relatives, schools, you will have noticed parents like to compete.

They compete about everything from whose child was breastfed and for how long, whose child walked first and what age, whether they give their child a dummy or not, when a child starts talking, how well children talk, how smart they are, whose child eats faster, better, more, whose child runs faster or plays sports or is a math wiz.

It is an annoying battle to be drawn into because there are no real winners or losers. As adults you can't tell who had a dummy and who didn't, who was breastfed vs bottle fed, who talked and walked at what age. As adults those things literally have nothing to do with who you are as a person and it shouldn't have anything to do with who your baby, toddler or child is, or how you define yourself and others as parents.

Unless there is something specifically wrong with your children medically such as maybe they can't hear and that is why they're not talking well, it is all irrelevant trivial nonsense. It is nobodies business whether your child is more or less advanced than theirs and it certainly is NOT a competition.

Parents who think raising children is a competition do my head in. The only real issue when raising children is, is your child well behaved, well mannered and respectful?' Are you a decent, non abusive parent?

If the answer is yes you've done a great job.