It’s amazing what even non-speaking infants can teach us. These smaller alternative versions of ourselves sometimes approach new situations and arrive at the same conclusions we do. You can literally watch them think through it, understand, process, decide. Decide again. Try. Reconsider. Try. Smile/frown, laugh/giggle/coo, whimper/cry/wail. Repeat. It is amazing and magical to watch someone grow in real-time. Our daughter was belly down and playing with a webbed ball. We placed several different options in front of her. I watched her consider each in turn, reach for one, change her mind, look again and then reach for another. You could literally read the thoughts forming. Magical. (Those fathers who enjoy youth sports relish the same joy watching participants learn, change and adapt over time being honed by competitive forces.) Do you give your child the freedom to explore? Do you control their observations and decisions to show them the “right” way and “speed up” the “process” or let them proceed at their pace? Do you take the opportunity to apply your children’s gift to you and your life by reviewing and adapting how you process new and familiar situations? It is amazing what they can teach us.
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