Hello Mommy World! It's been a while since I last visited you in cyberspace but I'm back and with a big egg splated on my face. In my attempt to be a great mom and spend some time with my 3 year old son outside of the house, I took him (and a few others) to see the remake of "The Karate Kid" that opened in theatres this past weekend. I'm thinking to myself that this would be great for him to see a little boy (who he resembles strangely) in action. But to my dismay, this may not have been such a great idea.
Later on that day, we were home and he and his little cousin were in the living room playing. He runs down the hall to my room and says to me, "Mommy, I beat her. I'm gonna win!" He then turns around and runs back towards the living room and his little cousin. Within five minutes, my little cousin comes to my room and tells me that my son hit her on his back. I called my son to my room and asked him why he hit her. He then proceeded to show me some Karate moves and said, "Mommy I beat her. I'm going to win!" It then dawned on me that he was repeating the moves he saw on the movie and repeating the same words he was saying to me in the movie theatre about the boy character in the movie. "Mommy, he beat him. The boy's goina win! Mommy, he won!" Like the character, my son wanted to win.
I didn't think beforehand that this would be the outcome of him watching this film. However, I should have known because at 3, he is VERY impressionable and is in copycat mode. A friend of mine (along with her husband) owns Martial Arts studios and want him to get involved. I was on board at first but now I'm not so sure that he is in the right frame of mind to be able to handle that type of instruction.
Bloggers, what do you think? Post your comments.
Till next time,
Aurellia
About Me
- Aurellia
- Aurellia Anderson is a passionate woman about God. She enjoys inspiring and encouraging others to live their life on purpose (even when her own life needs a pick-me-up). She is a hospital Chaplain, licensed minister with the Evangelical Covenant Church, and the President of her own company, Hidden Gem (www.HiddenGemCo.com). A mother, entrepreneur, ChurchChick(TM) , and just your average ray of sunshine-Welcome to the Personal Blog of Aurellia Anderson.
As a mother of a 3 year old boy, I can totally understand your concern. They are very impressionable at this age and repeat everything they see and hear. Though the movie is probably great for older audiences, it may not be developmentally appropriate for a 3 year old. But, I'm sure there's a way you can turn it into a "teachable" moment with your son. I'm learning that we can't shield our little ones from all evils (though we really want to), but we can teach them how to respond to what they see and hear. We can give them a lense through which to see the world and frame the discussion by what they see us doing.
ReplyDeleteI say to let your child participate in the class. In the class he will learn how to use the skill appropriately, respect for others and discipline. It is a great environment where he will learn to kick, defend, respect and be in community. If the instructors are good, this is a win-win situation for both Mommy and Son.
ReplyDeleteSmooches...
I do know what you mean....young children do not understand and cannot seperate fiction from reality. Even though they see it on television, they do not understand, if they repeat words, or do the same moves.....they will hurt other people. They only see the outcome of what the reaction was from the people in the movie and/or movie theater (laughs, winning, etc). My son watched Transformers and repeated what the mother said to the son, "Were you masterbating?" He was 6. I knew he was just repeating what he heard on a movie we allowed him to watch, so I carefully let him know he cannot say that, and do not repeat things he hear on movies. He also does the fighting moves which is why I will not let him participate in karate. I feel a parent needs to know if their child will be mature enough to handle different activities....and it takes little situations that will answer that question for us.
ReplyDelete