Early Years Brush With Authority

What pathway will an infant take when crawling towards the crossroads of awareness, finding meaning, developing perceptions, experiencing feelings, and creating an early understanding of the world? Does it matter?
My beautiful nursery teacher left the classroom during the art sessions, and the stern gatekeeper secretary stood on guard, unsure of how to control thirty toddlers. And, of course, whilst painting a colourful impressionist beach painting, I knocked over the jar holding the water. As quickly as a puppy terrier eating scraps falling from the dinner table, the interloping outsider invading our cosy, safe, and secure room demanded if it was deliberate or accidental. If I said something wrong, my timidity would receive a stiff verbal lashing not prescribed in the Montessori philosophy. I looked at the Secretary’s permed hair and smart attire; please don’t touch me or wipe your nose on my skirt, and I thought she was from a different tribe and culture to the women where I came from. I experienced this insight many other times…more later. A careful response to this new person with her signs and symbols of power and authority was needed. Ruefully and carefully, I considered the question and replied, I do not know what deliberate or accidental means. Mrs Prim and the proper School Secretary's face broke into an enormous smile, and she bent down and kissed me on my forehead. I thought language is only useful when a shared understanding of its meaning exists. There was a structural problem in this social transaction. As if sent for, my beloved, pretty teacher returned to save me from the trauma of the outsider’s interrogation.