Super mum to the rescue!

So Miss K has finally gotten to that age where she realises that mum can do anything. Toy isn't working? go see mum. Heard a scary noise? go see mum. Lost your arm in your sleeve? go see mum. While I love that I am finally getting recognition for my awesome talents at recovering hidden limbs, being able to put blocks into the correct holes in the shape sorter and protector from various scary noises, I have noticed that Miss K is learning that this means she can delegate a lot of her days work to me, in order to save herself the hassle. If she can't figure something out after a few tries, we generally get a scene of tantrums and screaming while she holds the offending object out to me to fix for her. While I am always happy to save the day for my darling daughter, I'm not sure if I am doing her any good by swooping in and fixing everything for her. The point of a shape sorter is to teach them something, (I never read the instructions) but if she isn't even bothering putting the shapes in, what is she learning? (Apart from the fact that there will always be someone you can manipulate to do your work for you.)

This is one of those horrible parenting lessons that we all have to go through and figure out on our own. And there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer to it either. You can swoop in and fix everything for them as much as you want, and it doesn't mean that they will grow up to be a useless ineffective member of society. They may learn delegation, a skill that I have found in every manager I have ever worked for. Or you could force them to learn things on their own and instead of being an independent logical thinker, they could grow up to be a bitter solitary creature who resents having had to do everything for themselves. It is one of those things you can only realise the answer to once you've finished raising them and see the results of your parenting style.

But for now, I think I'll just continue to be the hero in Miss K's life and fix things for her, and enjoy being awesome in her eyes. Because it won't be too long before she realises that mum doesn't have all the answers and is just as clueless as the rest of the world. Then she will look at me like this every time I make a suggestion.

Judging baby is judging you. Harshly