The Right Amount of Falling Down

Quinn has started pulling himself up on everything. Our furniture seems to not be conducive to pulling up, but a dining room chair on its side seems to be helping. It's amazing to watch the innate drive to stand and walk. It's also a little nerve-wracking. Our new downstairs hardwood floors are great in some aspects, but they are slippery for little feet and hard for little heads.

It highlights the fact that the right amount and right type of falling down is essential in learning how to walk. I fear him falling and hurting his head on the hard floor and I tend to hover when he pulls himself up. But he needs to learn that falling is ok, that there is a right way and a wrong way to fall, and that if he keeps getting back up long enough he'll learn how to walk.

So I try to walk the fine line between allowing him to fall but preventing major injury. It's one of the many challenges of judgement in parenting. I'm sure it will recur over and over in various incarnations over the years.