Several years ago, I built some planters for the house we were living in. And, these weren’t small ones. The insides were almost 18 inches deep so we figured that we could plant things like corn! 

 

That’s right, corn or maize as they call it in the organic ‘nuts and berry’ store.

 

We were diving into the urban farming experience bypassing ‘ordinary’ vegetables like tomatoes and peas. We had those too, but this story is about corn.

 

It didn’t take long for those tiny kernels to emerge out of the soil reaching for the sun. When they were about 12 inches out of the soil, we felt that these stalks looked a bit flimsy. A gentle breeze would make them sway as if a gale force wind had blown through and we were worried. 

 

What could we do? 

 

Do we sit by and watch our precious “corn babies” get tossed around by the winds?

 

No! 

 

We sprung into action and used some bamboo sticks to stake each stalk to guide it straight towards the sky and reinforce it against the wind. No longer would the wind threaten our precious corn. We rested easier. 

 

As the summer went on, the corn grew taller and the breeze became a topic of our daily conversation again.

 

Should we get bigger stakes?…

 

Ropes to act as guide-lines like an old cell phone tower? 

 

Giant tomato fence?

 

We decided on a combination of more stakes with twine to guide each stalk. 

 

We could relax again….

 

And soon enough, little ears begin to spring out. We became excited with the prospect of eating the corn we grew with our own hands. After all, it wasn’t an easy experience. We had to defend our crop against the cruel winds changing our strategy more than once.

 

The time eventually came for harvest. We collected the ears and opened them up. And, what do you think we found? 

 

…Earwigs, in each one, chewing up what looked like underdeveloped kernels. 

 

How could this happen?

 

In hindsight for us and foresight for anyone else that has grown their own maize before, the staking of the stalks was already an indication something was up. But rather than allow the corn to learn to reinforce itself, we introduced an outside intervention to bypass the uncomfortable phase of us watching our little “corn babies” get tossed around. Much like that wild wacky inflatable man outside of your local tire shop.

 

Funny enough, after the disastrous corn harvest, we took a road trip and noticed several fields of good looking corn. Robust and healthy. 

 

And no, the farmer was not in the field staking each one with bamboo poles and twine.

 

Now, what does growing corn have to do with growing children?

 

Excuse the pun but, they’re not so different. 

 

They both begin as little seedlings that need love and nourishment. 

 

Their guardians hope to see them become robust and healthy beings thriving in their environment.

 

They both breath air and live in gravity!

 

Gravity…something to think about…

 

Just like the garden store sells stakes, fences, guides and twine to help the urban farmer succeed. The early childhood store sells all kinds of devices to help hold your baby up too.

 

Take a peruse through any infant / early childhood store and there seems to be an entire spectrum of devices to help your human child escape gravity’s clutches. They will not be blown over by the gentle breeze any longer nor resemble that wild wacky inflatable man advertising discount tire swaps.

 

From devices like wedges, and “mumbos,” to jumpers and even specialized car seats, the list keeps growing.

 

And, it makes sense. Human parents and plant parents want to see their respective little ones grow and succeed. This includes conquering gravity and the wind. So, new products are marketed all the time.

 

One of the conversations that comes up in clinic frequently is what can I, as a parent, do to keep things moving following a treatment?

 

Is there an exercise I can do? 

 

How can I help move their intestines around like you do? 

 

This one answer seems almost too simple to be true. 

 

Contrary, to what the salesperson at the baby store told you, it’s to decrease the time spent in the devices. 

 

Why?

 

As a little being, your infant or child is constantly growing, learning and evolving. Their body is using different reference points to gain insight on their new and changing environment. Some of these reference points change depending on our environment like the pressure on different parts of our body, external light sources (like the sun), temperatures and where the horizon line is. While others, like the inner ear structure, visceral and other body sensations give us other proprioceptive (where we are in space) information. 

 

Ultimately, these reference points give us information if we should either:

 

A) change our environment or 

B) change what we are doing in the environment. 

 

Here are two examples:

 

1) Let’s say its hot out - heat wave hot. And, you are standing outside. If your internal body temperature rises higher than normal, you begin sweating. You then start thinking about removing extra clothing, seeking water and the shade of a nearby tree. You can change your immediate environment so you make an adjustment to decrease your internal body temperature.

 

2) You are standing on a sidewalk and see someone point up at the sky. 

 

It’s bird! No, it’s a plane! No, it’s…actually a plane flying overhead and you watch it go by towards the horizon. 

 

As you are watching, you begin to lose your balance. Once your internal ear senses you losing balance, you immediately change your stance, and your postural muscles adapt to keep you upright. We cannot escape gravity, but we can change what we are doing in relation to it so we don’t fall every time we look up. 

 

Like little stalks in the field, we begin adapting to our environment from the moment we arrive. And, frankly, it’s exhausting. We are constantly growing and learning to thrive on this plane. Hence, we sleep extraordinary amounts as infants and small children. 

 

Growing in Steps

 

There is a general progression to these things. Learning to roll over from back to front usually occurs before being on all fours and eventually walking. Like the roots of a corn stalk, these movements need to be somewhat established in order for the body to literally reach higher towards the sky. And, with little breezes here and there, the body learns to ‘root down’ and reinforce its structure, and adapt to continue to thrive in its environment.

 

When we re-examine our misfortunate corn growing experience, the corn stalks missed out on the cues they could have been receiving earlier on. Instead of getting the cue to root down and fortify themselves against the gentle breezes. All our staking and twining ended up modifying the environment. Decreasing the cue for better foundational systems and ultimately the pathways of nutrition and water in the case of the corn.

 

So, yes, the corn grew fast and tall, reaching heights that were impressive. But in the end, they could’t stand up properly without the stakes and twine. And, since the pathways of nutrition were hampered, the bug resistant properties of the ears were not present either.

 

In a sense, using some devices like wedges, “mumbos” and jumpers too much can rush things along a bit quicker than Nature intended. So, if we practice sitting on a wedge, in a “mumbo” or jumper, guess what? 

 

We get really good at sitting on wedge, in a “mumbo” or a jumper. The same could be said for spending too much time in one position like the car seat as well.

 

Our body will get used to that way of being in the world. And that is fine…if that is how we live in the world. But, there weren’t 20 jumpers in your grade 10 classroom, nor are there adult “mumbos” installed on the train you take downtown.

 

And, like corn, our body’s structural integrity impacts how it functions (and vice versa). Things like circulation, digestion and immune function are all directly impacted by how we are standing and functioning in gravity. 

 

This is why decreased time spent working on foundational steps will make a difference down the line because we ‘bypass’ the signs and signals that set us up for success later on.

 

So, perhaps, we should allow our children to practice learning to move like they have for millions of years. Exploring the space around them without too many outside modifications. That way, they can thrive in the world that is actually around them now and later on.