Paradoxes: What We Say We Want but What We Strive to Change

But well-behaved dogs don’t spring fully formed from the womb. They must be actively raised — which is not easy. The same goes for kids.–Jeff Koyen

As I returned some books to the library this morning, I drove past a straggle of four-year-olds from a nearby preschool.  The first two kids in line held the teacher or caregiver’s hands.  The rest followed in two loosely constructed lines.  Each of the approximately sixteen kids carried a colorful plastic waterbottle as he or she trudged along.  One young lady  marched virorously, swinging her waterbottle in one hand and  sucking strongly on the thumb of her other hand.   You can make me carry this waterbottle but I’ll do what I want with my other hand.  So there!

We proclaim that we like the naturalness and spontaneity of  young children and puppies.  Yet we spend a lot of time and effort teaching them appropriate…