This paper describes the process of developmental assessment of infants and young children from a parent's perspective. The artificial and arbitrary nature of most assessments is bemoaned as failing to adequately recognize children's abilities that may be readily evident to parents in more natural settings. Assessments emphasizing children's failure to meet a certain developmental milestone on schedule are criticized as counterproductively negative and disempowering, as is the accumulation of diagnostic labels that often occurs as a result. Four cartoons illustrate the paper. (PB)