RULE 62

Let them entertain each other

Any parent with only one child will know that it can be very hard work. You have to be their entertainer, best friend and playmate as well as their parent because, most of the time, there’s no one else to do those jobs.

Once you have more than one child, however, they can perform those roles for each other, leaving you free to get on with being their parent (and, hopefully, putting your feet up with the paper occasionally). You are not copping out when you do this. Quite the reverse.

It’s much better for your children to entertain each other than for you to entertain them all the time. Of course that doesn’t mean you’re never allowed to play with them, but it’s very rarely as equal as we think. Generally ...

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