about enabling one’s children to accomplish their goals, learn new things, and develop new abilities.
Mothers know the importance of handing your baby a rattle, painstakingly teaching him how to grasp it, and when he’s mastered grasping it, teaching him how to wave it about. They know that teaching him how to bang it like a tambourine, to produce noise and make him smile, is valuable for his development.
Yup, it’s a proud day when you can look at your baby, enthusiastically waving his rattle against the bed, and smiling at the sound it makes upon striking the mattress.
Of course, the moment he realizes it makes a better noise banged against you may correspond with the moment you realize you have just successfully taught your infant to beat you repeatedly with a large plastic rattle…