After watching Kung Fu Panda for the 8th time this weekend I went to bed wondering why kids like repetition so much. Is it the familiarity, the consistency, the predictability? Well according to the experts yes.
I was thinking about it and was trying to put it in terms I could understand. And it came to me in a flash – Adults do it too. Think about the last time you went to a new restaurant and ordered the best dish you ever had. Then for the next few days that is all you can think about. A week or two later (when you can rationally tell yourself it is ok to go back to the restaurant) you go back and instead of ordering something new you order the same thing. Flash to the next 3 or 4 more times you go to the restaurant each time ordering the same thing. Why do you order the same thing? Is it a fear of having tried something new and being disappointed or knowing what we have missed, the predictability, the familiarity? Yep you betcha!
But then one day you order the other dish you have been eyeing only to discover it is better then the first dish you tried. HoooRAY! Now the next time you come will you stick with dish #2 or go for dish #3, or even back to #1? So many new options to choose from.
So adults have the rational that we could try something different and discover a new favorite where kids don’t have that experience. They love knowing what is coming next. They can predict it and there is comfort there. Yet they also know they like it and as they are driven by impulse, especially at age 2 through 4, they want it again and again to experience the same thrill over and over again.
What can you do? Well you can try to introduce a new dish, or you can sit back and watch Kung Fu Panda and memorize all the lines, and spend some time enjoying the experience with your kid.
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment