A Magic Santa Globe ... Alas!
- psychologist-sg
- Mar 13, 2015
- 2 min read
On New Year’s Day, our family gathered to invite the beginning of hope for a year that’s blessed. The table was garnished with many dishes and table flowers and scattered petals to top it off. Wine goblets sent a whisph of ‘cling clang’ toasts to good health, love, happiness and family warmth and good friends and work triumphs.
My youngest cousin received a gift globe with Santa in the middle of the snow-flaked globe. She was happily carrying it everywhere she went. Initially, when she had just received the globe she had been warned not to drop the globe as it is breakable! But naturally, aged 4, she couldn’t comprehend that. Alas! When dinner was gradually coming to a satiation, she dropped her globe present of fantasy! She was upset naturally!
Her Dad then explained to her that she had not taken care of the globe that’s why she lost it. And then he explained to my brother that one had to learn that they cannot always have their way.
The incident reminded me of how parents of older past generations used to frighten their children with tales of inauspiciousness and superstitions. You have no idea how they really stick in the heads of children and ward them off these superstitions thus decreasing these behaviors effectively.
In present day, we reflect and refer to these inauspiciousness sticks in the head as childhood scripts that create blockages in certain ways in our lives sometimes somewhere depending on what and the impact. This brings to image Mr Bean and his quirkiness! What a funny bloke with his eccentricities! Do you wonder what he is thinking as he behaves the way he does? I do.
Coming back to our incident about teaching young children the essence of beholding the preciousness of their possession. How do you explain to them that this is a magic globe that is made from a very thin glass that can break? And then when it breaks, all the magic will flow out and fly away and be lost? Then the glass will break and hurt you and that’s why you have to throw it away in the rubbish. And the rubbish truck will take it to a rubbish dump far far away from her and you will never ever see your magic globe again! How do you explain this to a happily excited 4 year old jumping around eager to play rather than understand that she needs to take extra special care of her gift or risk losing it and crying over it later should there be a mishap?
Any thoughts anyone?
Maybe simulate an egg experiment? Explain to the child that the globe has a covering like the egg shell. Then show her what happens when u drop the egg (in a sink maybe). Explain to the child that the same thing will happen when she drops her magic globe.
Could we ponder over the theory of "object permanence" by Jean Piaget on Children's Thinking?
& the 'attachment maturity' (by Bowlby & Ainsworth) that could be complemented with Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development?
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