First contacts with the world.
At the appearance of Martusia (possibly Matthew) not only parents and grandparents waited impatiently, but also quite a large group of aunts and uncles, because, uncles and uncles.
Mom and Dad were diligently getting ready to take on the new life roles that awaited them. They read carefully the piles of better and worse, what they have achieved, pregnancy pamphlets and books, childbirth, newborn and infant care. From the first weeks of pregnancy, the expectant mother was under the care of K, and later regularly attended therapeutic gymnastics. Not caring about your own, but Martusia (Matthew) health.
While in the hospital, the young mother completed her theoretical work, book news. She participated in the show of care procedures demonstrated by the midwife and herself, under her guidance, performed the most important activities on the phantom for so long, until she got a positive rating. After a 5-day stay in the hospital, she returned home with her daughter. And almost from the very first day, visits to the nearest one began, then extended family, friends, friends. Almost everyone held a bouquet of flowers for their mother in one hand, and in the other a small toy for Martusia. On behalf of her daughter, the mother collected the gifts and carefully hid them in a plastic bag.
Suddenly a problem arose: when to give Martusia the first toy?
None of the books mentioned it. Health Visitor, who visited them at home after the child and the obstetrician returned from the hospital, she gave an inexperienced mother a lot of useful advice. she showed, how to swaddle a baby, how to care for them, to prevent burns, how to bathe, when and how to feed, how to dress, when and where to go for a walk, where is the best place to put the cot, etc., itp. There were no toys.
The grandmothers interviewed on this matter held very different positions. There was almost no family disagreement because of it. Because when my mother, persuaded by one of her experienced aunts, hung a colorful rattle on Martusia's bed, the indignant great-uncle took the toy off: Why should the child be disturbed?? If it's supposed to be healthy, should sleep as much as possible. This little guy doesn't understand anything, does not respond to external stimuli. So you have to take care of it, to have undisturbed peace, it was dry and well fed.
During the visit to the doctor, there was also not enough time to raise the issue of toys. There were always more important things to explain: Is the baby healthy?? Is he gaining enough weight?? How many times a day should they be fed? What new food to introduce? What vitamins to give? How long should it stay in the air? Whether to turn them onto their tummy and for how long? Are the hip joints properly built??
I do not know, why the matter of choosing the right toys for a child is usually treated as so unimportant. The pediatrician at clinic D asks the parents about the child's behavior during periodic visits: as he sleeps, how are you, when he has a bowel movement, or grimace. But he doesn't ask, what and how the child plays. And yet it says a lot about the development of a small human being.
That's true, that in the first period a healthy baby sleeps almost all day. He only wakes up for meals. Sometimes he even falls asleep during them. It hardly reacts to external stimuli, But it is also true, we don't know exactly when, at what point in your life, responds to these stimuli. Psychologists dealing with the earliest period of a child's life argue, that it usually happens between 3 a 4 week. But every child develops at his or her own pace. And in almost every generation, this development accelerates a little. We also know for sure, that the richer and more diverse the stimuli reach the child, the more they are, the faster it develops.
The infant does not understand a single word addressed to him, and yet the mother, changing or bathing, speaks to him most tenderly, how he can. And at some point, the baby begins to respond to her voice, character, answer with a smile. And then - and we don't know exactly when - he picks up the most important words from the words spoken to him, most repeated. ! though she can't say anything herself yet, because sounds, what it spends, syllables, which he repeats rhythmically, they don't fit into words, you can see from his reaction, how much he understands. And when he is firmly on his feet, he gladly fulfills requests and commands addressed to him, full of happiness and smiles this bear brings, it's a dog, it's a ball.
The toy expands the world of the child's experiences. Many people leaned over Martusia with interest and love, but no one can say for sure, when the little girl first saw the rattle. Was it just a coincidence?, that she turned her gaze in her direction and lingered on her for a moment, or, indeed, she had already begun to distinguish particular objects from her immediate surroundings. At any rate, from then on she stared at the colorful toy longer and more often.