One way and another, becoming a parent is an extremely reliable confirmer of common sense. A few of the obvious ones include: boys and girls are generally different; too much passive screen entertainment is bad for you; getting what you want all the time makes you dissatisfied and spoiled.
Just recently I have been musing on another eternal truth of which any attentive parent can hardly fail to be aware: boundaries are good, not least because if you have firm boundaries you can allow for a great measure of freedom within those boundaries. If the playpark is firmly fenced round, I can let my children run around and jump and climb to their hearts’ content. There’s no need to keep an eye on them all the time in case they hurtle off towards the woods or the lake. We can all relax and enjoy ourselves. The presence of the fence also renders unnecessary long-winded negotiations about exactly how far off they can go.
