Parents and other adults close to the daily life of the child interact with the child and her world from evident interest, spontaneous humor, and joy. Parents encourage children to freely experiment, taste, feel, hear, see, explore, and get into things that are interesting and safe. Parents show their pleasure and delight and create novelty in what otherwise would be life's daily mundane chores and routines. Children see and hear their parents become engaged and responsively enlivened when doing such things as reading a story and playing or listening to music. Children safely and playfully enact the stories in their imaginations or the imaginations of creative, empathetic parents.
Children notice that their parents let themselves get lost in the fun and creativity of play.
Parents find something good about the mistakes children will make as they grow and learn. Parents are flexible enough to postpone their planned activities from time to time and let a child's creative idea or direction lead the way. Children are encouraged to voice their emotions and to talk about their hurts and fears with attentive, responsive parents. Children can choose play activities based on their own feelings of interest and boredom and not the decisions of another person. The efforts of young children are regularly encouraged and prized.