Adult tendencies as picked up through childhood are strong evidence of the kind of influence our adult mentors impressed upon us. For example;
My Grandmother had a unique and profound influence on me as a child. Heck, if it wasn’t for her I never would have known what a delight Fried clams are. I would never have discovered that chopsuey tasted like refuse, and Chanel No. 5 would have been just another number to me. Grandma taught me to think outside of the box, long before the idea ever became a popular house hold phrase.
She taught me to believe that I had great potential, and she always told me never to settle for anything less than what I truly wanted. Because of her I believed in Santa until I was 9 (lengthy compared to today’s standards), and the tooth fairy until I reached twelve- Then I instantly had a 2 day crush on Bobby Sherman, where I completely forgot about the tooth fairy. Grandma taught me to play hide n seek like a pro. So much so in fact, that I took it upon myself to initiate a killer game on my own- without telling anyone- where I hid in a cubby for 6 hours and fell asleep- the whole while my family had the entire police department on the lookout for a missing child. Needless to say a kid can learn something too well.
My point is that there is usually one, and only one, adult that ends up being the focus influence in a child’s life. And it’s the child that picks the individual influence, not the adult. Because for whatever reason, they exemplify the process on which one will handle or address the obstacles that life tends to thwart our paths with- that we as a child will naturally identify with. That is the legacy that they pass down to us when we’re children, and that legacy is what we carry with us on into adulthood. It’s not beyond a child’s capabilities to realize a bad influence from a good one, once we reach an age of reason. However, as a child we are sometimes forced to adapt and cope with the negative ones in order to survive. I tend to view children as the miracle of our species and if I were to be a super hero, it would be one that could be everywhere at once to protect the miracle of the species from any further harm, for the reason that the pay off, in the long run, would be priceless.
She taught me to believe that I had great potential, and she always told me never to settle for anything less than what I truly wanted. Because of her I believed in Santa until I was 9 (lengthy compared to today’s standards), and the tooth fairy until I reached twelve- Then I instantly had a 2 day crush on Bobby Sherman, where I completely forgot about the tooth fairy. Grandma taught me to play hide n seek like a pro. So much so in fact, that I took it upon myself to initiate a killer game on my own- without telling anyone- where I hid in a cubby for 6 hours and fell asleep- the whole while my family had the entire police department on the lookout for a missing child. Needless to say a kid can learn something too well.
My point is that there is usually one, and only one, adult that ends up being the focus influence in a child’s life. And it’s the child that picks the individual influence, not the adult. Because for whatever reason, they exemplify the process on which one will handle or address the obstacles that life tends to thwart our paths with- that we as a child will naturally identify with. That is the legacy that they pass down to us when we’re children, and that legacy is what we carry with us on into adulthood. It’s not beyond a child’s capabilities to realize a bad influence from a good one, once we reach an age of reason. However, as a child we are sometimes forced to adapt and cope with the negative ones in order to survive. I tend to view children as the miracle of our species and if I were to be a super hero, it would be one that could be everywhere at once to protect the miracle of the species from any further harm, for the reason that the pay off, in the long run, would be priceless.
Kit Morgan; Oct. 11th, 2010.
© Copyright by Kit Morgan; 2010.
© Copyright by Kit Morgan; 2010.
