Parenting is different than managing.

When managing employees (or PhD students), you need to teach them what to do, and how to do it. With toddlers, sometimes you can only explain what to do, and let them figure out the how. Of course, you can show them how you do it. But they are going to want to experiment. And the process they come up with is not how you would do it. It’ll be slower, messier, and probably less done. But they will be learning. The wheels will be spinning. And the next time, they’ll do it a little better. And all the while, they will be building confidence and agency. Which is really what it’s all about.