Santa brought Joe a box set of Montessori toys, designed to encourage him to grasp things and develop his curiosity and hand-eye coordination so that he might live a long and happy life, grabbing things with not one hand, but two. I went to open the box yesterday thinking, I will open the box of toys, hand the toys to the baby, and then the baby will play with the toys. OH, BUT NO. The toys come with instructional videos on HOW to introduce the toys so as to best pique Joe’s interest. And there is a video on HOW to read the book, because you don’t just read the book, you touch it gently and turn the reading into a ‘discussion with your baby.’ I may have already ruined the toys, or the baby? By just sort of placing the things in front of him. But shouldn’t it be that simple? And also, WHO IS MORE RIDICULOUS? ME FOR BUYING THESE TOYS, OR ALSO ME FOR SPENDING MY MORNING WATCHING HOW TO PLAY WITH TOYS INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS FOR PARENTS, OR LASTLY, ME FOR COMPLETELY AND WHOLE HEARTEDLY DECIDING THAT I WILL GOING FORWARD BECOME A MONTESSORI TEACHER AND SPEND ALL OF MY WAKING HOURS GENTLY TOUCHING THE PAGES OF A SMALL WOODEN BOOK? Meanwhile, Joe’s favorite toy is the hair on Dad’s knuckle. The most ridiculous is just Me.