“You can tell she’s raised with gentleness,” I observe as I watch Eliana shushing, cuddling and rocking her new dolly. “Baby! Baby!” she announces happily as she and her little one proceed through our trailer.

All is well until it’s time to go. Just like Mom does, Eliana inserts her baby in the baby seat. I try to point out that dolly would go very well in the Cup Holder (there’s even a safety strap), but Eliana will have none of that. Any toddler with even a grain of sense knows that babies belong in baby seats, not cup holders! Eliana sits on the car seat beside her little one, fully expecting Maria to drive away.

Oh oh! “This is not negotiable,” Maria laughs, fastening the loudly objecting Eliana into the baby seat and putting dolly in the cup holder where she clearly doesn’t belong.

I’m not worried. Eliana is a forgiving little girl, and she will continue to learn gentleness and nurturing from her mom, even with dolly clearly in the wrong place.