This is part of a practical parenting series: five trimesters, five years (this), five grades (WIP). This isn't going to be the only body of writing that you read on the subject, so I'm definitely not intending to be comprehensive.
Toddlers and preschoolers are both fantastic and exhausting. They are curious and cuddly and clever. They eat, sleep, and learn in their own personal timezone. My job as a parent is to raise international super spies: self-sufficient, ethical dissidents with a deep sense of diplomacy, personal agency, and powerful physicality. You won't have money or time but you'll have a tiny clone who says "Good night beautiful mommy" when you tuck her in at night so ok.
I grouped eating, sleeping, and safety as “keeping them alive” (section 1). The ongoing disclaimer in this whole series is that my observations worked great for me but if they don’t work for