Daydreaming

I understand that the job of a parent is to make sure our children are socially acceptable, to teach them how to interact and be social and most of all to be successful in life (whatever that means for them). I also watch my daughter to do things that are out of social acceptance and expectations. The agenda of the day is what to do when she announces that the toy belongs to her or when she decides that she is going to make inhuman voices or when she is in her dream space not being responsive. I think every parent can testify that children go to a place full of imagination, wonder and dreaming, it’s a real world with real friends and animals and play. They are day dreaming. I also notice how that seems to be a problem in our society, allowing children to daydream. Nowadays, they even created drugs that can take your child out of this space of imagination and magic. Recently, a parent was complaining to me about his son’s school. They told her to get him on drugs because he wouldn’t sit still for 3 hours. He is not even 5 years old. I don’t know about you but as a 5 year old, I was running in the grass everyday, climbing trees, watching the sky move, playing, destroying, creating, finding news species of insects, sometimes eating dirt, tasting the chalk and dreaming. My mom still tells me to come down from the clouds. No thanks. It’s too much fun in here.

When did we start expecting 5 year old to be still, to be reasonable and serious? Yes, we want our children to succeed in life and that means to play the social rules, to get good grades, a good education but can we allow our children to be children? Let them dream. Next time you see your child absorbed in his little world, take a step back and let them dream because those moments of wonder are not just passing moments, they shape the way child understands the world around and what’s her place within this world. They are using their imagination to create their reality. So what do I do when my daughter starts making inhuman noises in the public? I laugh. I let her be because she will get it out of her system and will jump into a new experience.

Today a 3 year old and a the 31 year old are holding hands, walking down the street, enjoying the sun, talking nonsense, using their imagination, making funny noises and daydreaming.