words
Very often things just occupy my mind. A thought or idea gets stuck in a small recess of my mind and it consumes parts of my day or night. I can doodle some of them away ~ if they are pottery related or an idea for a creative thing. A doodle gets it on paper enough that I can stop thinking about it. Sometimes I need to take action and do something. Like when I think so long about repainting the wall in the bedroom ~ just get it done. Sometimes I just let it be there and see what happens.
So for a few weeks now I have been thinking about language and how my son hears words. When we started seeing the behavior therapist we talked with her about positive words and praise that borders on odd. Children are not programed to understand good or bad attention ~ just attention. So for Espen it doesn't matter when I yell or hug ~ it is attention. So we try right now to be over the top positive and praising. Believe me it can get hard and challenging. The meltdowns when Doug gets home are decreasing, the temper fits when we are all together are less. We are able to do things together and it is great. But it is also exhausting and not something I can slack off on for days and then pick back up because as soon as I slack off, so does he.
Over the course of the last weeks, I have thought a ton about language and words. We limited his Netflix to only G rated shows. We watch other movies together and talk about things and words and phrases. Certainly when he watched The Goonies we had lots of conversations! I think about the words I have taught him and the conversations we have and his comprehension of those words.
Language and words in our society ~ good or bad? We are becoming even more desensitized to words we find acceptable. Used to be saying a four letter word in front of your parents was naughty. Now those same words are just an acceptable part of our language. It is not just the bad words that I am consumed with thinking about. It is words my son knows the meaning of ~ like wifi, hotspot, email, crossover, hybrid, irritating, fantastic, disappointing, eager. He can use words at age 4 that I sometimes have a hard time explaining because he is only 4!
Maybe I wish we were a simpler society and we could all just hear how harsh our language is sometimes. Maybe I wish I didn't have to walk into the store and hear and then explain words and phrases to my repeater! Maybe I wish we were not so desensitized and that we had a filter on what and when we said things. Maybe I just want my child to keep his innocence and the words we use and hear sometimes take parts of that away.
But maybe in our house I can make a difference... just maybe!
So for a few weeks now I have been thinking about language and how my son hears words. When we started seeing the behavior therapist we talked with her about positive words and praise that borders on odd. Children are not programed to understand good or bad attention ~ just attention. So for Espen it doesn't matter when I yell or hug ~ it is attention. So we try right now to be over the top positive and praising. Believe me it can get hard and challenging. The meltdowns when Doug gets home are decreasing, the temper fits when we are all together are less. We are able to do things together and it is great. But it is also exhausting and not something I can slack off on for days and then pick back up because as soon as I slack off, so does he.
Over the course of the last weeks, I have thought a ton about language and words. We limited his Netflix to only G rated shows. We watch other movies together and talk about things and words and phrases. Certainly when he watched The Goonies we had lots of conversations! I think about the words I have taught him and the conversations we have and his comprehension of those words.
Language and words in our society ~ good or bad? We are becoming even more desensitized to words we find acceptable. Used to be saying a four letter word in front of your parents was naughty. Now those same words are just an acceptable part of our language. It is not just the bad words that I am consumed with thinking about. It is words my son knows the meaning of ~ like wifi, hotspot, email, crossover, hybrid, irritating, fantastic, disappointing, eager. He can use words at age 4 that I sometimes have a hard time explaining because he is only 4!
Maybe I wish we were a simpler society and we could all just hear how harsh our language is sometimes. Maybe I wish I didn't have to walk into the store and hear and then explain words and phrases to my repeater! Maybe I wish we were not so desensitized and that we had a filter on what and when we said things. Maybe I just want my child to keep his innocence and the words we use and hear sometimes take parts of that away.
But maybe in our house I can make a difference... just maybe!
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