Children Learn By Getting Down And Dirty

The human race has survived because we nurture our children for so many years. The danger lies in our becoming so over-protective that while stunting the natural curiosity of our youngsters, we stop their development on many different levels. There is no hard and fast rule as to what explorations we should allow or prohibit. Every parent struggles with this fine balance using his own set of criteria. Just look at how we treat our newborns.

Our first babies are treated with extreme care because we fear the common household bacteria which he may encounter. We provide him with his personal baby bath and all of the baby washcloths and bath blankets he can use. After stocking up on his special soaps and creams, we try to keep him as germ-free as our ingenuity can arrange. Many parents become hysterical at the sound of people coughing or sneezing within sixty feet of their newborn. They attempt to keep him in a sterile bubble as long as possible. Regular household linens are banned from his life, usually until the toddler stage.

When should you start letting your infant use the common family household linens? Sooner rather than later, to be brief. The minor germs contained in these cloths are exactly what a developing immune system needs. Doctors now urge the use of regular soap around the home and workplace. Why don’t they encourage the use of the popular germ killing soaps? It is because the immune system gets stronger with every germ it encounters. It learns how to fight them

Modern child care safety standards are saving countless children from injury and death. First time parents go to enormous lengths to ensure their little one’s freedom from danger. Baby safety monitors are being used to allow parents to keep an ear on their youngsters at all times. Baby’s sterile food supply is sure to be closely monitored also. A mother can use an electric breast pump to express her own life-promoting milk for use when she is elsewhere. Car travelers must install approved child safety seats for their children. These precautions are all saving children’s lives.

However, safety must be tempered with a slight element of risk if the child is ever going to learn to make good decisions. As he enters the toddler stage he must be allowed to experiment within reason to see what his environment can offer.

It is always difficult to watch someone we love suffer a setback. But we must allow our children to tackle a few new things and discover the inherent problems. That is how they learn.

So take those training wheels off the two wheeler, when you think he’s ready to try it on his own. Force yourself to stick around and help if the need arises. The greatest gift we can give our children is that of confidence. They get that gift through trial and error.