instead , i spent my time with mae , and the simple act of keeping up with her and keeping her entertained and feeding her and putting her down for her nap and explaining the antics of the marx brothers to her as we watched animal crackers and duck soup and then reading dr. seuss to her as she settled into the daybed i 'd set up in the bedroom-the simple act of caring for another , smaller human being was more therapeutic than a thousand counseling sessions , and i found myself wondering if past generations had been right when they accepted that as common knowledge .