Parenting is Forgiving

I ponder lots of deep things these days...

I've realized lately that parenting is forgiving, and it lets us grow into our roles. So many animals have babies that are immediately able to fend for themselves, and can thus run away, get into trouble, get eaten by a lion, etc. Those mommas must be immediately ready to handle that! Human babies, when born, are of course still very much in need of their parents. When it starts out though, they really just need for you to feed them and not drop them. The rest is extra. And then as they learn to do new things, you learn how to parent toward that.

For example, as Everett learns to become more mobile, I am given the time and wisdom to babyproof the house. It's not like we wake up one day and he can walk around (though it will feel like that). I am so thankful for the allowance to gradually learn each new phase. Another thing I get to learn is to omit words I would not want him to say, negative phrases, etc. For now, while he's there for a reminder, he isn't absorbing my every word. So little by little, I become a better person in order to teach him how to be a better person.

So grasshopper - who is the teacher here?