Raising a BabyDec 4

Empathy, Fairness, and My Baby Girl’s Socio-emotional Development: Our Tangerine Experience

Have you ever wondered if a toddler — barely two years old — can understand fairness, empathy, generosity, or even say “cheers” before eating a piece of fruit? Last night, I witnessed something that made me stop and rethink what toddlers are capable of. Keep reading, and by the end, you might want to try a similar “sharing experiment” with your child.

https://raisinga.baby/2025/12/05/empathy-fairness-and-my-baby-girls-socio-emotional-development-our-tangerine-experience/

Show threaddekompozycjaDec 6
@raisinga.baby I once read about empathy development process in some parenting book, with steps like imagining other's side perspective or emotional resonance explained and illustrated, and later I saw my child doing stuff that made me wonder if those observations from the book were accurate (even though there were based on some psychological experiments) or the researchers didn't appreciate toddlers enough. And the more ny child grows the more I am convinced that children are more emotionally and socially developed than most people would think, you just have to know where and when to look to see it.
Show threadRaising a BabyDec 7

@dekompozycja Thank you so much for sharing this! I completely relate. It’s incredible how often our little ones surprise us by showing a level of empathy and social awareness far beyond what the books predict. Research gives us helpful frameworks, but it’s those real-life moments — the perspective-taking, the tiny acts of kindness, the emotional attunement — that truly bring everything to life.

In fact, my daughter started showing clear signs of empathy and kindness around 18 months. We used to have breakfast together, and one day she reached over and offered me food, gently feeding me with her little hand — just the way we feed her. I wish I still had the video of that moment, because I try to document these experiences as accurately as possible in case they might one day be useful as meaningful observations for 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀.

I really love how you put it: “𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠.” It’s so true. These glimpses into their inner world feel like such precious gifts and remind me how capable, aware, and emotionally complex very young children can be. Your comment resonated deeply with me.

If you don’t mind, could you share the name of the book you mentioned?
Thanks again for taking the time to write — I truly appreciate it.

Regards
Sajal Kanti Ghosh
Father of Durga (the baby girl)

Show threaddekompozycja
@raisinga.baby I am not sure, but it probably was "Jak zrozumieć małe dziecko " (How to understand a little child) by Wydawnictwo Natuli
Dec 7 at 8:48pmWeb