ADSactly Family: The Innocence Of Children
The Innocence of Children
Hello, friends of @adsactly
When we are children, we are easily impressionable. It is part of childlike nature to believe everything! This ability to distinguish and question some facts can be far from our essence. So just as we believe in ghosts and monsters, we also believe in angels, heroes and princesses. It has been said in several studies that believing is an advantage for the child and has helped him to survive and evolve. All this because according to those same studies, a child who is capable of questioning the recommendations of parents, can get to do dangerous things that put his life at risk.
When we are children, any story can become a memory that will mark us and that at the end of our existence, can be there as if it were a tattoo. Hence the importance of the information we receive in that first stage of our lives. If we notice that one of the ways children learn new things is by hearing about them, then we will realize the importance of the stories we tell the children and the way we transmit them. Likewise, even though children are gullible, there are people they believe more: for example, they can believe what their parents say and not what a neighbor says, or believe what the Internet says, rather than what a friend says.
One of the stories that children believe is the existence of Santa Claus and the Child Jesus. In Venezuela, adults tell that Santa Claus is a man who lives in the North Pole, who knows all the toys the children want and who brings them on Christmas Eve only if the children behave well. Something similar happens with the Child Jesus, who is a newborn child who gives toys to children who have behaved well throughout the year. To these two Christmas characters, a letter must be made where it is clear which toys are desired, along with the promise to behave well. I remember that when I was a girl , I used to write my letter religiously and try to behave myself, but they always brought me gifts that I didn't want and my parents reminded me of some minimal mischief that supposedly stained my good girl record. Sad :(
Another of the best-known beliefs was that of the Tooth Fairy. Mouse Perez is the king of teeth. When Venezuelan children lost a tooth, the ideal was to take the tooth and throw it on the roof of the house or put it under the pillow, and say: "Little Mouse Perez, bring me a nicer one". At night, while we slept, the Tooth Fairy took our tooth and left us money. I'll never forget the time I accidentally swallowed one of my fangs and started crying because Mouse Perez wouldn't bring me a new tooth or coins. My surprise was even greater when the next day I found coins in my pillow because supposedly Mouse Perez had entered my stomach and pulled out the tooth. No one, until then, had told me that Mouse Perez was also a doctor. Incredible! ;)
Another of the stories that my mother used and I remembered these days, about a comment made by my friend and colleague @hlezama in an @adsactly post, has to do with food and strength. Cartoons are an immediate reference for any child. Not only television, the media, but also parents and society in general reinforce the belief in the veracity of the existence of cartoons. From what I always remember, when I was scared, I would join my hands and ask my favorite hero for help: "Help me, Phantasmagoric", just as it appeared on TV. Or my mother would invite me (to be honest) to eat spinach and all kinds of vegetables because that way I would be as strong as Popeye, a skinny, bald sailor. In the end, Fantasmagorico never came to save me and although I ate all the vegetables in the world, I couldn't carry a simple rock.
Surely, if we look at our childhood, there are many myths and legends that parents tell their children. In my case, to add other examples to those I've told you here, my mother told me that I couldn't watch the television up close because I was going to be blind; I couldn't get under the table because I was going to be dwarf; also if I told a lie, my nose would grow like Pinocchio or one of the most unusual: if you swallow a seed, a bush would be born in your stomach. Oh, how I remember spending hours awake thinking that leaves and roots were growing inside me.
Surely many of those things that parents said, were to educate, to control and even to frighten their children. Even though I don't have children, I want to think that those stories had a reason for being. In the distance, I remember these myths and smile at the creativity of parents and the ingenuity of some children. I imagine that the children's credulity made them obey; also a certain magic that they had. Because they were magical, like little goblins; unlike today's children, who are so real and dissatisfied.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I remind you that you can vote for @adsactly as a witness and join our server in discord. Until the next smile. ;)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE
http://notas.ateoyagnostico.com/la-mayora-de-los-nios-creen-todo-lo-que-se-les-dice/
https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/12/13/ciencia/1513187436_283306.html
Written by: @nancybriti
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You made a very emotional and beautiful post, @nancybriti. Although my childhood was very lonely and detached from the family (as perhaps is still my life), I appreciate those who had, like you, that rich childhood provided by the family.
Of course, many of the children's legends (the Baby Jesus and Christmas toys, for example) and the influence of comics were in my childhood life (I wanted to be a "little samurai"; hence my inclination to ancient Chinese and Japanese culture?).
Children's imagination and emotional-spiritual freedom must be the issues that every society willing to develop healthily should guard; for which families and their needs should be covered, as well as an education that respects and nurtures that imagination.
Thank you for your good post. Greetings.
There is no doubt about the importance of family contact in our lives. Beyond affection, there are certain filiar stories that are fundamental to creating character and spirit. Surely trees with deeper and larger roots will be more difficult to break. Hugs and greetings, @josemalavem.
Very important issue. Believing in things real or imaginary is an important aspect of our intellectual development. The development of our imagination is closely linked to our storytelling traditions.
I fear much of it will be lost or transformed in the next decade or so. Other things are taking the place social interaction played and i fear our children, more tech savy, as they boast to be, will also n3come less sociable.
Hillarious anecdote of your swallowed tooth :)
My childhood was loaded with certain adventures that only children of past ages could have. Maybe I spent less time in front of a screen playing and more time riding a tree or running with friends. While my knee injuries speak of how naughty I was, they also speak of how free and exciting my childhood was. Cheers to those times
I grew up in New York State, USA and we had most of these stories told to us as well. This is the first I've heard of the baby Jesus bringing presents, and the tooth fairy was just called the tooth fairy, but otherwise, the stories you talk about here are the very same we lived by in my childhood.
I wasn't afraid of plants growing in my body if I ate a seed. In fact, I once deliberately ate a watermelon seed and then some dirt so that watermelon would grow. I loved watermelon that much!
This was a sweet reminder of my earliest youth. Thanks for writing it.
LOL. You really did the earth and watermelon thing! That's crazy. With your comment, I realize that family and childhood stories can be the same all over the world. Thank you for commenting. ;)
I enjoyed your publication, my friend, it took me back to my childhood and all those myths we learned from our parents and passed on to our children. These experiences of children undoubtedly allowed us to be children prevented, respectful, obedient and also ingenious, there are those who think that to say these things is to deceive children, I think it is to expand their creativity and imagination. I always waited for the Mouse Perez and nothing that came hahaha. Thank you for your publication.