Curiosity: Toddler

Adults and Toddlers: two different agendas

Camilla and I are on two different schedules throughout the day. I've recently realized  that is our main reason for arguing. I plan and organize the day to be able to manage all the things that has to be done. I try to push the agenda to make it done, and done quickly to free the time to spend with her. She has something completely different on her mind. She doesn't care about past or future. All she cares about is the present moment: all the exciting, new, and very interesting this second and this spot of the planet. I thought about it - it is very simple. It is her excellent toddler curiosity that pushes her to Mommy's keyboard when Mom appears to be so busy typing, and that pulls her to close the drier when Mommy's trying to do the laundry quickly (doesn't matter that the phone rings right now, and that's why I am in a hurry).

Curiosity: The Fuel of Development   I've decided to record some of my baby's discoveries. Have to learn from them how to be mindful and live in the moment, how to be curios about the world around you, notice it and learn from it. She started singing songs this week (21 months old). They are made up songs with the made up tunes: very pretty. She doesn't like it when I say "sleep" unless she knows it is a game. She would lay down saying "see, see" for "sleep" until we call together, "wake up", when she would jump up and start laughing. Is it so funny that this "sleep" is not for real? She discovered she could make circles with finger paints by touching the paper with her finger tips, and then drew her first real picture: flowers on grass. That was a puzzle for her - has she really made up flowers and grass all by herself? She finally was interested to watch the animals at the zoo. I could imagine there were so many questions to ponder. Are those huge dinosaurs scary or nice? Is the kangaroo not a horse, they looked pretty much alike on the pictures? Why can't I get to the horses on the carousel at once, they are here and I want them? Oh, that long tube slide is fun, why was I scared to go down before? So many questions every day. How could our little ones make it through every single day just fine? What are your little ones favorite discoveries this week?   Brain Development

by Dr. Bruce Perry

from http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/curiosity.htm

Curiosity………leads to Exploration
Exploration…..leads to Discovery
Discovery…….leads to Pleasure
Pleasure………leads to Repetition
Repetition…….leads to Mastery
Mastery……….leads to New Skills
New Skills…….lead to Confidence
Confidence…..leads to Self Esteem
Self Esteem….leads to Sense of Security
Security……….leads to More Exploration

Keep their curiosity running. Slow down, live the moment in full, and give them that extra chance to explore. It is so hard sometimes. The other day we were walking down the street and Camilla wanted to explore the puddle she saw. So I thought, "I have to give her a couple of minutes to explore this puddle, it looks shallow and harmless". Of course, Camilla was wearing a white dress at that time. She carefully stepped into the puddle, stood still there looking around, then stomped in it for a while, then suddenly put her hands into the water. I thought if that's all she could do, we still were fine and could make it through the puddle OK. But then she sat down. So much for the beautiful white dress and her newest discovery.