Guilt is the biggest enemy of the working freelance artist. You feel guilty when you aren't playing with your baby, and you feel guilty when you aren't hitting your page counts.
| Domain | How the comic supports it | |--------|----------------------------| | Cognitive | Cause & effect (turn page → new image); object permanence (character hides/reappears) | | Language | Caregiver reads sounds/words; baby babbles back | | Social-emotional | Shared reading time; character expresses basic emotions (happy, surprised) | | Motor | Pointing, patting, grasping page edges | baby play comic work
The baby introduces chaos (a spill, a weird noise, a sudden mood shift). Guilt is the biggest enemy of the working freelance artist
So pick up the spoon. Make the funny face. Draw the stick-figure comic. Your baby is ready for their close-up. So pick up the spoon
Draw one small panel each night of the funniest play moment. After 30 days, you have a mini-graphic novel of babyhood.