Do you validate?

I've always wanted to be a Mother. I've always envisioned myself the PTA Mom. Not 'cause I was supposed to or had to or I couldn't muster the imagination to think of something else to do (trust me, there are more glamorous and better paying jobs), but because I wanted to. It seemed to me the most valuable and important thing to do. On some self-serving level I am 1000% (yeah, I know it says 1,000) sure that some of my motivation to be a good Mother is to stop the cycle, re-write my legacy, prove that a lousy start in life doesn't mean you can't have a spectacular life of your own making.

And sometimes, I stumble across something that validates something One Philly Daddy and I have chosen to do naturally and organically, without much thought.

I read the following in my Parenting magazine:

" You can help set up your child to be a future math whiz - no flashcards required. Researchers found that when toddlers heard numbers regularly, they were better able to understand simple math concepts by preschool than kids who were exposed to little or no number talk..."

The tips they suggest are simple, not unnatural or forced, like "Count stairs as you walk up, count toys and put them into sets..."

One Philly Son started getting interested in numbers a few weeks ago and will eagerly exclaim "twoooo" when we're climbing stairs or he wants One Philly Daddy and I to swing him between us as we walk all holding hands. (I assume he'll get "one" eventually.) So we count stairs, bath toys, peas, twigs, pieces of dog food that fall on the ground....

Its nice to know that we're doing something "right" just because we recognized and responded to our son's innate curiosity and interest.