this idea that the perfect mother would spend hours out of each day on the floor with her young children, gazing into their eyes as she slowly articulated the sound of each letter on the educational wooden alphabet blocks they were building into a tower. She would take her four-monthold baby to Mom ’n’ Me music classes and sit cross-legged on the floor, clapping her infant’s hands to the beats of the nursery songs. Now I suddenly realized that mothers throughout history never did this; they never had time. Children’s primary sources of entertainment were outdoor play and other kids, not their
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