Parenting Wheelhouse

I think every parent has their parenting wheelhouse, the part of being a parent that just comes naturally to them.  My Mami wheelhouse is 0-24 months.  I am just phenomenal with infants.  I had no problem taking a step back from everything and focusing solely on mothering a newborn, infant and mini-toddler.  Of course, if I look back at my blog posts, I was hard on myself.  And sure, my personal hygiene decreased initially - how do you find time to shower with a nursing two week old?   But with my 20/20 hindsight, I can absolutely say that I was an awesome new mom.  I was committed to nursing and my body cooperated (hello for gallons of milk!).  I was really laid back about Myki's schedule (no stress); he slept when he was sleepy, ate when he was hungry, snuggled when he was fussy, played when he was feeling playful.  He never fussed at being dressed or bathed, it was awesome. And we had great activities daily...activities were so easy then.  Tummy time, a blanket outside, nature walks once he could walk.  Myki loved picking up everything and was surprisingly good at not eating it.  Myki was walking by nine months and saying real words.  Mike and I were both early walkers and talkers, but I like to think my mothering had something to do with it also.

Daddy on the other hand, seems to be in his wheelhouse right now, on the eve of Myki's fourth birthday.  He is so good at teaching and empowering Myki's independence whereas I still want to baby him and do things for him.  Daddy has taught Myki all kinds of cool tricks so he can dress himself and he really utilizes Myki as a helper so that he is learning to set the table and clean up.  These are all critical skills and its amazing to watch the two of them in action.  They have such an easy flow about them, whereas I feel like the last year or two has been really challenging.  While Myki comes to me for comfort, Daddy is the one he goes to for help and he listens to Daddy.  I have no authority as far as Myki's concerned and discipline is difficult for me.

Our thing right now is reading.  We do read stories together daily and I've been getting longer and longer books to read (even some chapters!).  I'm prepping him for Harry Potter (yep, I've read them all).  I'm hoping by the time he's five he'll have the patience, comprehension and attention span for Book 1.    I'm transitioning from the lament of a lost era to finding my wheelhouse within the little kid stage.

Does this transition happen at every stage?  And will I find another stage as comfortable as that 0-24 months was?  I"m unsure, but at least momentarily, we have books!