All Selling Aside With Alex Mandossian

When my daughter Breanna was about a year and a half old, she would look up at me after bath time and put her arms up, as if asking me to pick her up and lift her out of the tub. This was a defining moment for me, and I believe it defined her interdependence on me for her future. When she put her arms up, instead of lifting her out of the tub, I would give her my finger so she could grab it and step out of the bathtub with my assistance. This way, she would know how to get to the other side herself. Not surprisingly, she didn’t like this! I figured, though, that if I just lifted her to the other side, she would be codependent on me and wouldn’t learn how to get out of the bathtub on her own. Of course, this is also relevant in other parts of her life! Giving her too much help would only lead to struggle and trouble. She eventually took my finger and climbed out of the tub, banging her knee and ankle in the process. She started to cry loudly, and I held and comforted her. Two days later, my daughter reached up