Leaps of Progress

Political Scientists have a term for the phenomenon in American politics, when the country suddenly decides that they want to embrace a new political party with a new message. For decades, politics will occur along a certain pattern with one party espousing message A and the other party embracing message B. Different groups of people will rally around the party that best represents their interests and we go along like that for a long time. Then, there is a sudden shift, brought about a crisis or a new economic system or a charismatic individual, and Americans suddenly and permanently shift their party alliances. This shift from status quo to change is called Punctuated Equilibrium.

I believe that political scientists stole that term from evolutionary biology, but I know political science, so I'm giving you that definition.

I think childhood development works the same way.

 I am extremely attuned to Ian’s speech abilities. I count the number of words that uses in his sentences. I notice when he uses a new word and how he formulates questions. I notice how many times he can go back in forth in a conversation and add new thoughts. I am much more attuned to his development than Jonah’s, because I have to be.

Ian’s speech has improved over time. Thank God. He has never stopped learning new tricks. He goes for months with little baby steps of progress. He doesn't exactly plateau, but the improvements are small. The real progress happens during periods of rapid progress. Out of the blue, he’ll have a month of rapid progress, which will follow with another three or four months of maintenance. This plateau, leap, plateau, leap pattern has gone on since he has been a toddler.

I’m not sure what brings about the leaps. There doesn’t seem to be one particular event that triggers those periods of progress, but they are there and are observable to everyone. I think that they are even obvious to Ian, because he becomes giddy with his new skill.

He's in one of those periods right now, and it's just delightful to watch. I'll repeat his sentences to myself and count his words. I'll call Steve at work and announce, "Ian used an adverb. An adverb!" 

Whatever the cause, we try to make the most of these leap periods by fostering whatever new skill that he’s acquired. We've signed him up for a ridiculous number of after-school activities this spring. My exhaustion level is pretty high at the moment. 

I wonder if we all have these jumps of progress where we make new connections, become more creative, and have endless energy to take in new facts.