Week 3 Post

I'm so entrigued by the creativity, imagination, learning capacity, and natural wonder of a child. Watching my soon to be 2 year old daughter Grace grow and learn and try something new every day has been such an experience, and a real eye opener to what creativity is to a blank slate. Watching her play and take part in teh socialization process (that she has no idea she's been exposed to) really causes me to want to learn more about children's minds and the way they learn. It's especially awe inspiring when I question why I don't have memories of my younger years, and how I wish I did. Most don't have memories before age 4, due to the way our brains grow and change from infancy to being a toddler, and becoming a child. But I think it's just so amazing how kids can have such imagination, and as Hughes says, slip from reality to fantasy without difficulty. Is this why Grace's "best friends" are Elmo and Dora the Explorer? Does she see them as real? Think about them? I wish I could get inside her head while she's playing and see what's going on in there as she runs around, without one single focus or any kind of stress. Her innocence and not having the slightest idea what's going on in the world or never having seen evil is a wonderful thing, that I wish she could keep forever. Even just pondering the imagination, playfulness, and creativity of a child might do us all some good!