…Polo

To continue from the last post…

Mom’s play a very important role in allowing children to explore and are typically the parent who stifles that exploratory drive. I’m lucky in that while I have to remind her that its ok to let him try something on occasion, she is very good about letting him explore things. Most momma’s boys have mothers that just smother them. Bleh. With that said, allowing them to explore is good for their development because they are able to learn more and about more things, more quickly. This is a good thing if you want your kids to love learning and to be ahead of the curve when it comes to smarts. The most important things mom’s can do for exploring is to: let them explore, bandage any injuries, praise them for exploring, and help keep an eye on them while they are exploring.

Dads don’t get a free pass here either. We have to actually keep an eye on them. Its not enough to say let the boy explore, then not supervise or expect mom to do it all. She will worry and go nuts. You have to listen for them and occasionally check up on them visually. Protip, when they get quiet, that’s when you have to worry they are up to something. Case in point, just now, as I was typing this, I could hear him playing in the billiard room, when he suddenly started running silent. I checked up on him, and he was starting to attempt to wreck a dvd case. You just have to maintain active sensors.

Another thing to point out here, is that just because you allow them to explore, doesn’t mean they can explore anywhere. Control it! Baby gates are great gatekeepers here. For you new or about to be parents, spring for the more expensive metal gates that have the door on them. WAAAAAAAAAAAAY easier for adults to use in the long run, harder for babies to knock over or God forbid, my kid tried climbing a wooden gate the other day. Plus they look nicer and work on dogs too! Essentially though, if you cordon off areas you don’t want them to go, and use those cabinet lock things on the things you don’t want them opening you are set.  It is much easier to supervise them and let them explore without fear of them getting into something they can’t have behind the wall. It’s also a good lesson about boundaries early on. The downside is that they will get into EVERYTHING available to them, so you have to be ok with cleaning up after them.

To keep a long story short, if you stay alert, you’ll have no problems. You’re kid will learn that its ok to do things on their own, and you are less likely to have a momma’s boy.