Mazin is laughing now. Where does that come from? Did he learn it from us, or is it an instinct of some kind? Sometimes it sounds like he's just learning how to do it, but sometimes it seems so spontaneous. His neck is ticklish. Why? Watching a baby learn and develop raises so many questions. Do infants in other cultures laugh at the same time, or do ours laugh so early because we spend so much time trying to elicit that first giggle? I just finished a book that compares baby rearing practices in six very different cultures. It seems there are many ways to raise a healthy human being. Parenting norms evolve to produce a very specific kind of person--one appropriately suited to his or her cultural environment. I want to be a conscious parent. I want to be aware of the cultural norms that underlie my decisions, and to make different decisions if I question those norms. So many choices. So much responsibility.
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