Since the major Asian platforms have entered the European market selling directly to consumers, many small local businesses, both brick-and-mortar and online, have struggled. That's just how the market is, and everyone is free to choose where they shop.

Some children play very close to adults. They don't wander far, they don't explore on their own. When shared play doesn't arise, adults may feel uneasy, doubt themselves, and be tempted to intervene. In these cases, the best course of action is to pause for a moment and learn to distinguish whether the child we are with is introverted or shy.

Aggressive play is uncomfortable. The fear that by allowing it, we are encouraging violent behavior is very common. Rejecting this play is equivalent to denying a natural need for expression.

A few days ago we were listening to an episode of the podcast Stabbing pains dedicated to one of the four elements: the earth. They mentioned a lovely exercise that a university professor posed to her students: Observe what they stepped on for an entire week.

Every child inhabits an internal landscape made of images, memories, fears, and desires. It can't always be expressed in words; it is hinted at and manifested in play, in the way pieces are arranged, in the way a ball is kicked, or in the way a doll is cared for. Pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald W. Winnicott, whom you may know for his concept of the "transitional object," described it as "the potential space."