psychology
MY KID IS A GOAT
23/08/13 15:42
Recently, my wife and I took our 21 month old son to the Berkshire Mountains to visit the Hancock Shaker Village. Here, they have a small farm for visitors to see how the Shakers used to live. Our son was intrigued with the cows, goats, pigs and chickens. And when the staff invited Conor into the field to play with the goats, Conor glowed. And after about three minutes in the pen, he turned into a goat himself.
"There is some indication that having a good imagination translates into more creativity as an adult. But even more intriguing--and the idea getting the most attention in labs these days--is a possible connection between pretend play and the ability to get along socially in the world. In particular, researchers are investigating whether pretend play facilitates the development of children's theory of mind--the ability to understand that others have thoughts and feeling all their own."
From an article in the American Psychological Association entitled "The Power of Pretending" by Beth Azar
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OUR SON IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF SHYNESS
07/01/13 13:11
It was cold today in Boston and Conor needed to run around so we took him to Natick Mall where they have a little kids indoor playground. After he got tired out, we visited the Yogibo store, Yogibos are like the bean bag equivalent of 1978. Except cooler. When we arrived, there were a few girls trying out the Yogibos and having a good time. Conor, not having a shy bone in his body, inserted himself into the middle of their conversation and somehow made the meeting about him. I dug around the internet to see if this was a normal attribute in kids and it's not necessarily so. There are in fact, shy kids and it's usually hereditary if they exhibit signs at an early age. There is a stage of infant development called 'stranger anxiety' and it doesn't last very long in the development process. And Conor has shown signs of it at times but after he sized up the situations, he ran into them head first.