You can walk before you crawl, but should you?
Watching Amelia Rose grow up is a fascinating exercise in humility. We are truly brought into this world in as useless a form as is possible. And yet, we immediately challenge the world around us to explain itself. First through sight, and then through some combination of touch and taste.
The phase we’ve just entered with Amelia Rose is mobility. Explore the world through a sense of mobility which enables independence and a sense of adventure. And so enters the age old adage that one should learn to crawl before they attempt to walk.
It turns out that that adage is misleading.
You see, it’s entirely possible to walk before you crawl. Amelia Rose is doing her darndest to do just that. Given enough help, she’ll definitely get there. So why all of the emphasis on learning to crawl first?
The danger isn’t that she learns to walk. It’s that she never learns to catch herself when she falls.
So my job is to catch her when she needs a net, but to let her fall when there’s a lesson to be learned. And somewhere in between she might learn to crawl, but I know she’ll find her way onto her feet and into the next adventure.
Oh baby, the places we’ll go!