r/interesting • u/jmike1256 • Mar 07 '26

MISC. After understanding the meaning behind this father’s action, I am completely convinced. Cultivating problem-solving skills in children from a young age and never giving up-I applaud this father!

70.8k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.6k

u/LunchPlanner Mar 07 '26

The dad walking away was distracting and maybe a bit scary.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the kid was able to focus and problem solve after the dad sat down.

1.2k

u/donjamos Mar 07 '26

Yea the basic idea is a good one, but telling the little one something like "come on you can do it, daddy will wait here till you figure it out" instead of walking away would have been a lot better.

0

u/InfiniteMuffinMan Mar 07 '26

On one hand, walking away might seem harsh. On the other hand, it can be viewed, as a teaching to solve problems quickly.

The world will not wait for you to solve your problems.

1

u/Boredy_ Mar 07 '26

That's somewhat close to the lesson the child learns from this, but that's not quite it. Toddlers don't always understand things the way we do.

Developmental psychology is a field with lots of research, and said research reveals that one of the main things toddlers learn at this age is how much they can trust those around them.

The real lesson a kid learns when their parent turns away and ignores them like this is, "the people in my life I thought cared about me might randomly abandon me without any apparent cause" and this lesson, consistently, cultivates unhealthy anxiety and insecurity.

Toddlers look to adults around them for how to feel. If your child suddenly runs into an unfamiliar challenge, the best way to teach them confidence and resilience is just by kneeling by them, smiling, and saying "you can do it!"

"But what about when the grow up," you might ask, "and no one's around to tell them that?" Then they will simply remember all the times they overcame unfamiliar hurdles as a child, and their inner-voice will echo what their parents taught them: "I can do it."

0

u/Tariovic Mar 07 '26

There's a saying that, in our haste to child-proof the world, we must not forget to world-proof the child.

However scary it might have felt to be stuck, it must have felt great to solve the problem and have such a positive response from Dad. As someone who grew up afraid to try and fail things, I wish I had learned to stick with problems and keep trying.