Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMom2
I used to dread the day that innocence would go away. I still sort of do, but TRUST me as the child gets older, it isn't cute anymore if they are still doing it. In fact it awkward and a bit of a concern if you feel they aren't kidding or the least bit serious.
After 2nd grade the last vestiges of true innocence seem to vanish.
The day they start school a huge portion of those toddler day innocence is washed away. I was very conflicted then. I missed my little tyke.
I felt and knew he was going to be phasing out of things soon and those would be hard times. Now he's well into Elementary and most of his peers have advanced and matured beyond 6 yr old stuff. Mine is still stuck in another world and not always in touch with reality. Its embarrassing sometimes to see him gravitate towards baby and Kindergarten level toys and books and still play with some ancient toy that he shouldn't really have interest in at this point (he's 10 now)
I still miss that little kid, but he needs to grow up and we're kinda having to force/guide him to it. Some things were hard to say goodbye to, like kid's shows and toys I'd just kinda taken for granted, but we needed to let go and get him more age-approriate. Its just not cute at some point. A 6-yr old should be into 6-yr old things, but a 10 yr old....no. After about 8 yrs old I figured he'd get tired of doing the little kid and baby stuff. Oh boy was I wrong. I had to remove that stuff and store it so he wouldn't see it and be forced to to play with more mature things. He's about 2 yrs behind in his development.
Sorry for the rant.
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It's normal for most kids to gravitate towards things that may seem too young for them, according to early childhood experts, for many reasons.
Some of the shows, for instance, are simply familiar and comforting. As adults we delight in watching old Disney movies, so why shouldn't a 10 yr old get to enjoy Barney on occasion? Often times the only reason they have moved on past them is because of peer pressure.
Many kids gravitate towards toys geared for younger kids because they know how to work them successfully and find them easy. Sometimes they just want to do something for fun and not have to work hard for it. Adults don't always do just the 'Hard' crossword puzzles. Sometimes we just want to do the 'Easy' ones.
Same goes with books. Who doesn't enjoy cuddling up with a childhood favorite? Or playing with a pop up book...or just looking at a picture book?
When kids are in school, sometimes they feel lots of pressure to work harder, succeed where it's hard to do so and never slow down. So, often they want to come home to a soft place to land...and that may mean back to old favorites. And that's okay to do sometimes.
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