Recently, for various reasons, many of my mother and father friends have been accused of making up things that their kids say and things that their kids do.
For those of you who have forgotten the absolutely non-nonsensical world of being a child, I assure you, we could not make these things up if we tried.
Spend time with children--they will drive you absolutely batty if you try to determine the reasoning behind their world view.
Their minds are not muddled by facts and the logic that we so easily frame our world with. They see actions, reactions, people, and things very differently from adults and I think it's easy to forget that.
There is something absolutely adorable and entirely aggravating about children. I've often asked my three-year-son why he's done something, and he'll respond that he did it because the chair is blue or because he likes chips. This makes absolute sense to him.
My daughter will insist that she's never done anything fun in her life...right after returning from a museum or a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese where she'd been ecstatic stating how much fun she was having.
Their concerns are more immediate, they forget things faster, react quicker, and move between activities and ideas like wildfire. The first reaction of most adults is to reason with a child, trying to make them see why what they're saying or doing doesn't make sense.
I'd encourage a different approach. Although it's necessary to introduce logic and facts and reasoning into a child's repertoire, I challenge you to ask questions instead.
There really is no use telling a child how they should think, but if we listen, and open that conversation into the craziness that is the experience of children, there's a lot to be gained. Children are amazing humbling tools--sometimes we need a reminder that adults take themselves too seriously.
Well put!
ReplyDelete- Erin