ABSTRACT
It is hard to remember that we are born to the human condition. No matter how much we want our babies to be happy and to enjoy life, the fact is that from the beginning life is a mixed affair, and pain is present as much as pleasure. The question for parents, even in the best circumstances, is how to foster in their children delight in good experiences, and also strength to tolerate and live through bad ones. Children need good food to grow and to thrive, and also to build up strength and resistance. A malnourished child is vulnerable to infections, illnesses, all the accidents which can happen to a small organism. The baby needs to take in milk which is to be digested and transformed into a strong body. But as good food builds the body, so good experience builds the mind. The last physical necessity for an infant is for protection, and this is of various kinds.
