Freedom, reliance and walkers

I have been wondering about walkers. Emmanuel and I decided not to put Ethan in a walker cos we heard that they delay the baby learning how to walk cos they start to rely on the walker instead of learning how to balance. We had thought to wait until he's almost one and then put him on one of those front weighted trolley things so that he can use that to help himself learn how to walk. The difference with these thingmajigs is that Ethan should have learnt to balance on his own by then.....

But just the other day, I was thinking again... Ethan's not inclined to crawl and he's impatient. My mum's got a perpectual backache and now sees an ostheopath to help manage the pain. Am sure it's got something to do with Ethan wanting to be carried ALL the time. Ethan wants to be free, he's curious and learning, so lying on the bed isn't much fun.

That got me thinking again. Maybe we should let him have the joy from the freedom of movement. Heck if he learns to walk slower, at least he can zip round the house on his own two legs. If he falls, well, he should start learning that he can fall and it can hurt. Mummy, daddy, gong-gong and mamak cannot be there all the time to cushion him, though we will all try, fatigue, backache and all.

Maybe I think too much. There's no need to extrapolate the question of walkers into a methaphor about freedom and reliance and the consequences henceforth. Maybe like Ethan, I should just try to reach for the next toy, grab a kiss from a loved-one and just enjoy the day.