Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion logic

DD8 went to a bday recently. At the end they watched an old King Kong movie. In the day, the watching public was scared and thrilled. DD wanted to leave before the end and said "if you use logic, you would know there is not such thing as a 100 ft gorilla.". DD has liked fantasy and fairies in the past, as much as any kid, but where did this come from?

Also, with Harry Potter or Children of the Lamp, it doesn't work for her. Others have this "logic vs entertainment" thing going on with their young kids?

Wren,

We may have experienced something similar. When my son was around that age, he went through a phase where he absolutely would not watch any kid's movie or show where inanimate objects like cars were personified and given googly eyes and the power of speech. Now, at 13, he is suffering from regrets that he didn't play enough as a child. It's so sad to see a teenager bemoaning his wasted youth. Perhaps you can explain the concept of suspension of disbelief in an academic way for her?

Kitty

Our DD is just the opposite. Beginning around the age of 3, she'd look up at us apprehensively, and ask, "Is that real?" Once we told her there was no such thing, she was happy to indulge in whatever fantasy was being presented.

this is SO helpful! we had to explain to DD5 quite early on that there is a great deal of joy to be found by simply selecting the right "lens" for processing things that might at first seem illogical. i think the first of these instances was santa claus - she just never bought the idea at all, and needed help understanding how parents could lie to their kids.

interestingly, this idea of switching "lenses" has also worked for us when she's had logic-blocks with various other (totally unrelated!) issues ranging from religious beliefs, to seasonal traditions, cultural differences and of course all forms of fantasy/fiction. (cause as y'all know, it's pretty much all Harry Potter - all the time round ours!)

We explained it to our kids as being a "Mental vacation"
To this day even with my eldest DS19 we talk about the need for escape, everyone needs it, there are positive forms of escape and negative forms, however, everyone needs to escape from their daily lives now and then. Positive escape promotes creativeness and refreshes the mind. I think even the most logic minded people can understand this concept.

My son is very logical, and it's worked in my favour. My baby accidentally changed the channel to a program that was a little scary. I freaked, thinking my son would be scared, but he just said, "It's okay; I know they're just people playing a role in a movie". He watches cartoons with talking cars for the whimsy, and we laugh about imagining they were really real.

I think others have more immediately relevant thoughts for you--but FWIW and as some light humor: My DS, who had known that Santa didn't exist for many years, put his hands on his hips at age 5 or 6 and said, "What is your evidence that Santa doesn't exist?"

Watching a movie sounds like a pretty boring thing for a party. It puts a stop to interaction. Maybe your DD realised that once the movie started, the party was over.

They had spent 2 hours in the park doing field games.