Parents that dote on their children too much might find themselves in trouble down the road; all that unadulterated devotion is a surefire way to spoil your kid. The problem is that those who are doing the doting are often too smitten to see when the object of their affection is acting like a complete jerk. No wonder dote is related to a German word that means "to be foolish." That connection might also explain the use of dote to mean acting senile in one's later years.