Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion feelings for inanimate objects

I know that look...

Around 2, DS7 had developed his own theory about this: animate objects are those with eyes. I'd say something like "hurry up, your sleep sack is waiting for you!" And he'd exclaim "a sleep sack can't be waiting, a sleep sack doesn't have eyes. A sleep sack is just lying around!"
He was really upset by stuff like Cars and Thomas the tank engine because of the inappropriate eyes...

I get the look with, "Mama, you know [insert object] is non-living."

That's funny, because as much as DD is into the lives of her various inanimate objects, there are also certain things that she is extremely literal about and just doesn't understand my jokes. I can't think of one at the moment, of course, but she gives me that look/lecture sometimes.

My daughter has been having a great deal of trouble with this recently. We were at a museum where they showed trash that had been left in the park and one of the trash items was a stuffed cat. She was really upset thinking about both the child who had lost it and the cat needing to be cleaned up and cared for. If we could have brought it home for her to clean, she would have done so.

On the one hand, I'm extremely glad that she is sensitive and empathetic. On the other hand, it has become so bad lately that it has become very hard to take. I don't want to discourage her from being empathetic, but am becoming exhausted. Right now, she is upset because her pet spiders despawned in Minecraft. She is making a memorial.

This thread is so helpful! When my child did things along these lines, sometimes I was proud of her for her empathy and sometimes thought she was a little off her rocker. She has to buy the neglected, unloved toy so that it gets a good home. For two years, she brought dead leaves into my house so that they wouldn't decay during the winter. She recently had a dustup with a teacher over the feelings she attributed to a piece of paper. I am relieved to read some of the comments here.

Today DD3 said "I'm pretending my balloon is dead."

This thread is useful because I've been bothered lately by DS10 not wanting to throw certain things out. We all have pack-rattish tendencies so I just filed under "annoying". But actually this thread's title gives a much better explanation for recent incidents, e.g., want to keep the completely worn out instrument case we've just replaced. (Obviously instruments are alive; I just didn't quite make the leap to their tatty plastic cases being so too!)

That would have upset ME even. Still remember losing my favourite stuffed dog on a trip - 7 years old, fur loved off, I'm sure it ended up thrown in the trash by an uncaring person.
Give your daughter an extra hug from me, will you?

I remember as a kid we got a new pram to replace the really old one that was used for my the first 3 of us. My brother asked if he could have the old one to make a go cart out of and was told he could. To me it seemed like an act of betrayal. I still feel that way about things sometimes. I don't think they are alive I just feel some sort of loyalty to something that has served me well. I have pack rack tendencies but am trying not to become a hoarder. Ds7 cries if I throw his torn clothes out but is OK with donating outgrown stuff.