Then those of us who are parents become CEOs with a bent toward marketing. We tout growth rates at every opportunity. And rightly so. This is real growth after all. But then it starts slowing down.
Growth rates are nowhere near the doubling that took place in utero.
In fact, if we give these rates too much attention, they give off the perception of plateauing at points. After all, those bonus ticks on the tape measure add up to percentile points at the pediatrician's office. As time goes on, the metrics change. Growth rates according to height and weight become less satisfactory, especially if our darlings are not topping the percentile charts. With school grades, athletic and musical performances, and a host of other new abilities and activities, new standards of measure are introduced, and our accounting begins to take them into consideration.