January 24, 2017
My son surprised me yesterday with this:
D: Mom you look too serious. Are you upset?
Me: No, just trying to focus when I study. That’s all.
D: But do you like it?
Me: Of course! I love it!
D: Well, if you do, then you must smile. Can’t you smile and focus at the same time?
D: It’s a bit hard. But I smile inside my heart because I like to sit and read and study. Does that make sense?
Decoding emotions is something which does not come naturally for my son. We’ve had to teach him to first understand his own emotions before exploring other people’s emotions. Everything has to be broken down. At times, it’s very confusing for him and difficult for us because we have to find inventive ways to explain it to him. As a result, he will often ask me to smile as a sign of reassurance.
These are some of the things we take for granted which can take months, sometimes years, for our children to grasp. While my son relies a lot on his intuition, I find that each step towards the right direction is a blessing.
He stood there for a long while observing me silently, trying to make sense of what I was trying to explain to him, and then he said,”Dogs are easier . If they are happy, they are happy. And if they are not, they are not.”
** crickets **
As always, he leaves me speechless.
~ Prima
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That’s great! He is starting to put together facial expressions and feelings and learn the nuances. Hurray for progress!
Lol! Well, he got that right. I wish it WAS possible to unconsciously smile all the time. Maybe we should all start training that in ourselves.
He sounds adorable <3