Pointing Fingers

This weekend I had some gastroenteritis. I was miserably sick. I spent most of my weekend trying to avoid spreading my contagion.

One of the things I did was avoid touching Little P. It was hard not to cuddle or kiss him. One of the things I did to interact with him a little was teach him to point. It was a lot like doing therapy with one of my kids. He had a pretty good idea of pointing by Saturday evening, and by tonight he was doing it consistently. I was giving him tiny bits of sherbet, and he pointed at the dish before each one. He's pointed at things that interest him before, but not to request items. I was almost giddy this evening about this because it was such intentional communication.

It makes me wonder, though, how much non-special-educator parents really explicitly teach their kids, and how much they allow them to soak things up naturally. I've avoided doing things like this because I don't want to interfere with his natural development, but I suppose all parents teach their kids things. I'm used to helping kids whose communication systems are disordered. I'm afraid, though, of meddling too much with a normal kid and somehow screwing things up.

I guess I shouldn't worry. I suppose anything and everything he learns at this age is beneficial.