Parenting isn’t always intuitive. Sure, you probably have a sense of motherly/fatherly/parently intuition that snaps into place once you sire a child, but that doesn’t mean you always know what to do. Kids are unpredictable, just as the world is unpredictable. You probably never knew you would need to know what a «labubu» is, and you probably still don’t expect that your 11-year-old wants one so badly she’s reaching new decibels with her begging. But luckily, you grew up in the era of Beanie Babies, so you have some idea of what it might mean to have one and how it might actually be a good investment. 

All to say the books don’t teach you everything. Books don’t have to be up in the middle of the night when they’ve had a bad dream and can’t go back to sleep. Books don’t have to teach them how to drive. Books get to clock out when they’re not being read (that’s how books work, right?)