The 5-Minute Solution

The scene: I was working diligently at the computer in my home office when my 2.5-year-old daughter, Willow, approached my desk and grabbed a pile of 4x6-inch photos that I had carelessly left within her reach. These pictures of our older daughter and a friend had been sent to us by the friend’s mother, and replacing the pictures would have been inconvenient if not impossible.

Given Willow’s developmental stage—where “looking” at the pictures might include folding, ripping, and coloring them—I reacted from fear and stood up from my desk to rescue the photos from the wild-child!