Every day, Miles brings a book from school home with him so we can read it before bed. Obviously, most of these books teach valuable lessons about behavior, social interaction, and life in general. We were reading The Itsy Bitsy Spider (an extended version with progressively escalating perils and misfortunes), and I wanted to make sure Miles knew this was more than just a cute little story about an arachnid.
“When you have a hard time doing something, do you think it’s best to try again?” I asked.
“No,” Miles said.
“No?” I asked. Oh boy, he had missed the point.
But Miles quickly clarified, “You have to think about it first, THEN try again.”
Turns out he understood it better than I expected!
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 