imagination...

in children, and the developing mind.  this was and still is a topic that i am interested about before i officially became a father, and especially now.  now because i am seeing how my daughter's mind is developing, in a sense.  how she is putting the pieces together.  it really is amazing.

but my question comes as i clean up for the night, all the toys and activities throughout the day.  (normally she helps, but she's sick right now.  so she gets a reprieve)  is today's child accessing and using their imagination like we did as children, or our parents?  or even is it too much?

when your child is sick you'll do anything to calm them down.  so yesterday was a lot of tv time.  and it seems like every show pushes the child to 'learn' something or get something out of it.  is it too much?  or is the imagination taken away.

i read an excerpt from a book before lydia was born about the developing mind (i wasn't going to buy it, because i figured that it would be too late for me to get all the information out of it that i could use), but it stated (and i'm sorry i don't remember the name of the book) that human babies are attached and need to stay with their parents for so long (as opposed to other animals), because of the complexity of the mind, and to allow that imagination and creativity to grow.  this is not something that other animals need.  my cat is not concerned with stacking blocks or coloring or making art.

but do we impede this with all these toys, and learning that are constantly in the child's face?  is it really important for my child to learn words in spanish or chinese right now?  i don't think so.  now you may say, 'well, don't let your child watch it.'  and this is an option.  you are correct.  but what else then is there?  meaning it's everywhere.  and then if you say no, i think you then run the risk of not having your child relate to other children, and what they are into.  and then what does that do?

is society pushing too much learn too soon?

[:!:]

[amitabha]