As tiny humans, kids are as varied as adults, so parents often find themselves needing to employ a variety of tactics to keep them in check. These styles will, inevitably, vary from culture to culture and will also often reflect the parent's own upbringing. In the American middle class, at least since the end of the Second World War, parents have often employed a more permissive style, which allows their children to feel independent and not constrained by constant rules.
Some of the responses and activities here indicate that the children do feel relatively free and unconcerned. Though kids also tend to not really know boundaries very well, so it could simply be that childlike innocence. Regardless, the permissive style has its detractors, as children often end up with poor self-discipline and tend to lack structure when approaching work and other activities.
In some cultures, it is very common to have full-on discussions with a young child and baby. These discussions do tend to be pretty one-sided, with the parent telling the baby about itself. In West Africa, parents will also talk to their babies, but mostly about other people. In both cases, the child does benefit, however, as engaging with language helps them learn to speak and feel included in family conversations. This is why young children, seeing or hearing a conversation, will join in with their own babel, as they believe this is simply what one does in the situation.
When kids get older, hopefully, they start to develop the ability to actually converse with others. Then comes the inevitable ocean of questions about practically everything. Why is the sky blue? Why are adults bigger? How does a car work? Can dogs understand us? While vital for a child to understand the world around them, this can be exhausting for adults who feel like they are in a never-ending interview. Some cultures circumnavigate the issue by emphasizing observation as the preferred method of learning. In other words, some parents have actually, successfully pulled off ’just sit in silence and watch.’
Others try to preempt the onslaught of questions. This makes sense, as a parent is an authority figure, so if you can’t tell your kid how gravity works, why would they believe you about anything else? In Indigenous American and New Zealand communities, storytelling is often employed to keep kids entertained and to explain to them how the world works. Though a particularly curious kid will probably end up asking hundreds of questions about the story itself, so it’s not a foolproof approach.
