Some kids (and people in general) definitely do need to be shoved out of their comfort zone, but I'd be wary of how much you pushed/forced kids into social interaction. My daughter was cripplingly shy from the ages of 2-6 and I think if I'd forced her to interact/play with other kids, she would be an anxious mess today. I let her deal with things at her own pace and now at 10 with the number of friends she has and socialising she does and how well she responds to people, you would never have guessed that she was a limpet who always hid behind me when confronted with a strange adult and who would not budge from my lap when there were other kids on the playground XD
It's probably just the proximity but "anak" means child in Malay/Indonesian in the unlikely event you didn't already know that :) I can't remember if that's biological child or any child though, I know there are specific words for son and daughter.
My kids love Last Airbender, can see the influence now that you've pointed them out, though I wouldn't have picked them as I didn't really sit down and watch it myself.
I've found with a lot of kids if you explain it to them straight up they're usually pretty understanding, the squabbles happen when they don't realise that the kid that's not playing by "the rules" isn't doing it because they're a spoilt brat. Explaining it is always fun though -_- I feel a bit for Dadier there as I'm the one doing the explaining and my kid is high functioning enough that his behavioural issues are really easily mistaken for simple brattiness/bad parenting.
I'm feeling like everything I say is a little bit terse atm because I've been carrying this epic headache all day (yay for caffeine withdrawals DX) so apologies in advance. Am on holiday visiting relatives atm so want to squeeze in comments when I can so couldn't just wait for it to pass like I normally would :D (actually normally I wouldn't even have caffeine withdrawals as I'd just be feeding my addiction, however we currently have a milk shortage and I am a terrible milk consumer DX)
Thanks for that story! You always write very entertaining and thought provoking posts, my friend. It's not at all terse. I'm very appreciative of the feedback, especially coming from a seasoned parent. Since I don't have kids of my own yet, I'm just accumulating all the knowledge I can. I do realize that now, and it's good to know different perspectives regarding those things. Since I was raised the same way you raised your daughter and I still turned out into an anxious mess, it's interesting to think about the factors that contributed to the difference. Perhaps environment and the people we interacted with? I hope I figure it out just in time so that I could raise a daughter of my own some day that turns out like your daughter. Look at me, I'm a ball of anxiety as we speak haha!
I know basic Bahasa (Indonesian), and I've actually traced back the roots of some Filipino words. And, you're absolutely correct! :) Since we trace our ancestry to Malay/Indon/Chinese/Spanish, our language is basically a hodgepodge of those influences :D Great catch! I should've expected that you, of all people, would spot that :D
I really like how SILVER LINING provides that kind of realization. As much as I wanted to make it relatable for many generations, I had to ... I-I ... I don't want to say to much :/
Yeah, I guess you're right. Kids are pretty malleable, and I mean that in the best possible way. Given proper guidance they could turn out to be great people. It's great that you related to the giants here. I really wanted to emphasize the struggles they go through without telling their side.
Ah! I see you're already on Christmas Island! Enjoy the holiday, and leave your normal worries behind. I'm so grateful that you took the time to post Viento when you did! It really made my week and, I feel, the whole of next week as well! :D