Everyone has a way of parenting, for me, it harkens back to my recollections of childhood. I was fiercely independent and (in my mind) demanding of adult respect. I can recall when people treated me like a child or talked down to me, it made my 5 year old blood boil. Looking back, it was probably quite entertaining. If Sweetpea is anywhere on that same street, I would really like to help reinforce confidence and independence. I was inspired by this blog recently: http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/08/putting-things-away-and-tidying-up-what-a-toddler-can-do.html. I’m not 100% Montessori, but I like the ideas I understand. We’ve started with little tasks to give her a sense of “I can do it.”