Thursday, July 31, 2014

Children Understand WAY MORE Than You Think


Never underestimate what you think your children can understand. Something I learned yesterday with my two year old. I do know that she is a very smart little girl, very. I know that she understands just about everything I tell her and explain to her pretty well. If she doesn’t, she asks! That’s just my little curious girl. But something happened that shocked me. I mean really, truly SHOCKED me. I couldn’t believe what came out of my daughter’s mouth!

If any of you are parents, then I’m sure you have seen the Disney movie “Frozen” a few dozen times (at the very least) already.  My daughter LOVES that movie, LOVES it. She loves it so much she wakes me up ALL the time in the morning just like the movie by sitting on top of me, opening one of my eyelids and asking me, "Do you wanna build a snowmannnn?" (<-- Yea, that puts a smile on my face anytime with limited sleep) She sings the lyrics to the songs in the car, wherever I put it on and just will sing out loud randomly wherever she is. It’s as adorable as it sounds. So we were in the car with my parents and I was in the backseat with her, naturally the soundtrack was playing and she was singing along to everything.  The ever popular song “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” came on and if you recall the movie there is a long instrumental in middle of the song. During this time in the movie (to recap for those who may not know) the main characters Elsa and Anna say goodbye to their parents that are leaving on a trip, on a boat. As seems to occur in most Disney movies, the parents are “killed off” so to say. You see a big storm on the ocean and a wave toppling over the ship. We see Anna dressed all in black at a funeral type service and Elsa with everything completely “frozen” in her room she is so upset of their passing. 

Here is the video from YouTube, the instrumental part starts around 1:40.

          

Ok, so pretty basic. Like I said, my daughter understands A LOT for her age yet I just kind of assumed this part of the movie went over her head. First of all, she doesn’t really hear the word “Daddy” around here and I didn’t think she would get that the parents had a really bad boat accident. Wrong. Totally wrong. If you watch this clip of her during the instrumental in the song she recaps exactly what happened in the movie and the characters emotions. She knows that the girls were said because of “Mommy and Daddy”…..she was so in tune to what WAS happening in the movie. It’s like she saw the movie playing out in her head during the songs. (Happens to me but I’m 26, she’s 2!) 

I was truly dumbfounded. In shock, proud of her though and completely touched by HER emotions to these characters’ emotions.  I’ve always made sure people watch what they say around her because children hear and see more than we think they do. They pay attention even when we think they are not. So don’t doubt your children and their ability to know what is going on, not in just a movie (be careful what you watch around them), yet in everyday life.  Watch what you say on the phone around them, in conversations with others, and be aware that they are learning every moment of the day. Babies, toddlers, children with disabilities or learning disabilities….never stop believing in them. These beautiful children of ours are soaking in everything around them! Some may take a little longer to communicate or show us they understand but believe me I will never underestimate a child’s understanding again! 

As for my daughter, I am one proud mama. I hope she always stays in tune with emotions the way she does and that continues to soak up everything around her. I hope that when she doesn’t completely understand something, she will always come to ask me for an explanation, or advice. I look forward to all the future shocking things that come out of the “mouth of babes” as they say. She truly never ceases to amaze me!

Here's what she said!

                               

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