“When you do things for a child –– tie her laces, wipe her bottom –– you are giving her the message that she’s not capable of doing those things for herself,” Iole’s Montessori teacher used to often say. “So what if she wears her right shoe on her left foot, the key is that she attempted to put on her shoes. One day, she’ll figure it out. And these tiny feats will feel like huge triumphs. Let them struggle, let them muddle, and let them bask in the glory of sussing it all out, one shoe lace at a time. ”