For instance, I found it interesting that babies and toddlers of the time often wore pudding hats, which were padded bonnets to protect heads from falls. I sometimes think that the (non-medical) infant helmets advertised in kid safety catalogues are a bit excessive and characteristic of today's hyper-vigilant society, and yet, parents have apparently been trying to protect their babies' heads during those unsteady infant and toddler days for at least a few hundred years. In fact, I may have to look into making one of these pudding hats for my eight-month-old...
I also learned that many of the dresses that the infants and toddlers wore had "leading strings" sewn into them to help the children learn to walk more steadily with an adult holding up the strings... or, as one Pilgrim mother confessed to me today, to tie the child to the chair leg to keep him out of mischief. All in the name of safety of course!
These designated homeschool days, which occur at several museums in the area throughout the year, are a wonderful way to connect with other homeschooling families and take advantage of homeschooling-specific programming. And as with so much of homeschooling, we parents share in the joy of learning alongside our children.
