lesson from the play mat

Ziv was playing with my violet colander earlier. After a couple of minutes of tapping and shaking, grabbing and turning it over, the kitchen item went too far for him to reach. He looked at me but instead of handing the colander to him, I asked him whether he wanted me to give it to him. He just babbled back while rocking on all fours so I told him, "You should go for it and reach it. You can do it." 

I continued to watch him as he tried to figure out what to do. I can see that his brain was ticking as he alternated between looking at the colander and looking at me, and after a while, he had his eureka moment!

Momma just had to take a photo LOL

Since he couldn't bring his body to the colander, he brought the colander to him. What he did was pull the blankie right under the colander and voila! Violet colander back within playing distance! I swear, I got teary eyed when I witnessed that moment. I am a proud momma! 

I guess I can also apply the parenting tidbits I'm learning now to when Ziv's already past his infancy. Had I decided to intervene and just hand the colander to Ziv, I would have robbed him of that learning experience. As easy as it is to just do everything for my son, I would have to remember to allow him to face challenges on his own. If I wouldn't give Ziv the chance to figure things out for himself, then I'll be doing him a huge disservice. Teaching independence starts now. On the play mat.