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May. 19th, 2009 12:44 pm(I posted this to LJ yesterday, then thought to share it here.)
Whitebird wanted me to play all the people while she played all the horses. (They're all Playmobil. I am just impressed to bits by Playmobil.) She's 5, so she told me when I was doing it wrong, and I generally let her. No, the horses aren't falling like that because they're sick. It's not that kind of story, Adrian. There's a bad guy making them fall. And the people can't go argue with the bad guy, or do anything to make him stay away from them and the horses. There has to be a fight. I was pretty bemused by how little I was controlling these people she wanted me to play, so I asked her where the bad guy was.
WB: He can be here, under the chair.
A: Ok. *I take a Playmobil figure with a painted-on handlebar mustache, and empty plastic pistol holsters, and put him under the chair*
WB: *she looks at me like I'm out of my mind* THAT'S not the bad guy!
A: Which one is the bad guy?
WB picks out the humanoid figure with the darkest hair and skin, from the crowd of toys on the floor. I cringe.
A: How do you know that's the bad guy?
WB: He has bad hair.
A: What do you mean, 'bad hair?
She points at it. Black, straight, hair. Like the hair of more than half the people on the planet (as represented by molded Playmobil plastic.) Her hair is light brown, like my hair was when I was her age. The first doll I suggested has yellow hair, bright yellow like a dandelion. She thought cartoon central casting had sent him for the heroic roles, apparently.
A: Do you mean 'dark hair?' {I believe her exasperated response was supposed to be "Duh!" in horse language. It was clearly affirmative.} No, this is serious. People aren't bad guys because of what they look like, they can only turn into bad guys if they do bad things. It's dangerous-
WB: This is in the GAME. Stop talking about that serious stuff and play the game!
I don't know how to respond to this effectively. She's FIVE. She doesn't have the abstract-thinking skills to see how Disney, etc, push her sentimental buttons (nor does she see any reason to value abstract thinking more than the pleasure of having her buttons pushed.) When I tell her something that clashes with her existing view of the world, she doesn't believe it, doesn't want to hear it. I don't know if anything is getting through at all.
Whitebird wanted me to play all the people while she played all the horses. (They're all Playmobil. I am just impressed to bits by Playmobil.) She's 5, so she told me when I was doing it wrong, and I generally let her. No, the horses aren't falling like that because they're sick. It's not that kind of story, Adrian. There's a bad guy making them fall. And the people can't go argue with the bad guy, or do anything to make him stay away from them and the horses. There has to be a fight. I was pretty bemused by how little I was controlling these people she wanted me to play, so I asked her where the bad guy was.
WB: He can be here, under the chair.
A: Ok. *I take a Playmobil figure with a painted-on handlebar mustache, and empty plastic pistol holsters, and put him under the chair*
WB: *she looks at me like I'm out of my mind* THAT'S not the bad guy!
A: Which one is the bad guy?
WB picks out the humanoid figure with the darkest hair and skin, from the crowd of toys on the floor. I cringe.
A: How do you know that's the bad guy?
WB: He has bad hair.
A: What do you mean, 'bad hair?
She points at it. Black, straight, hair. Like the hair of more than half the people on the planet (as represented by molded Playmobil plastic.) Her hair is light brown, like my hair was when I was her age. The first doll I suggested has yellow hair, bright yellow like a dandelion. She thought cartoon central casting had sent him for the heroic roles, apparently.
A: Do you mean 'dark hair?' {I believe her exasperated response was supposed to be "Duh!" in horse language. It was clearly affirmative.} No, this is serious. People aren't bad guys because of what they look like, they can only turn into bad guys if they do bad things. It's dangerous-
WB: This is in the GAME. Stop talking about that serious stuff and play the game!
I don't know how to respond to this effectively. She's FIVE. She doesn't have the abstract-thinking skills to see how Disney, etc, push her sentimental buttons (nor does she see any reason to value abstract thinking more than the pleasure of having her buttons pushed.) When I tell her something that clashes with her existing view of the world, she doesn't believe it, doesn't want to hear it. I don't know if anything is getting through at all.
