Every once in a while I read about something some parent is doing with a child, and I get a bit paranoid. My daughter is six. Am I exposing her to everything I should be? Might I be - through ignorance - denying her something that every kid should have?
I keep lists of books, movies, and music that I'd like to share with her. I've already shown her Star Wars, and we've done some talking about Empire Strikes Back, but she tends to be very disinterested in movies unless she's seen them before or unless she's already read the book. We recently read the first Harry Potter book together, and I've been talking about having her and my wife watch all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender with me, since that cartoon is so good. I've also just realized that I really need to get her a copy of The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Of course, media isn't the most important thing - it's just something that I personally spend too much time thinking about. I've tried to give her some exposure to sports, although I don't follow any sport myself. On Labor Day, we took my first trip to Yankee stadium, and Lia's first major league baseball game. We've also given Lia piano lessons and theater classes, both of which she's enjoyed, and this year is the first year she's been able to ride her bike with no training wheels. Yay! Father's pride and all that.
In casual conversations, I've exposed her to the science behind everyday things. How negative air pressure is what keeps the water in that upside-down cup in the bathtub. What friction is. And after playing Minecraft and having been exposed to all the crafting, she looked at the window in our house and asked me it was made of. Glass. What's the glass made of? I don't know, melted sand? What's the sand made of? Umm... silicon? What's silicon made of? It's an element. What's an element? This led to a discussion of the periodic table, and a quick Google image search on my phone to show her all the elements. This led to a discussion of noble gasses and radioactivity. Yeah, science is fun. You'd never know I nearly failed chemistry in high school.
I've been considering lately how I will introduce Lia to computers. Kids today are amazingly tech savvy, and Lia operates the iPad like a digital native, but when will I introduce her to Microsoft Windows? Should I give her some file structure and networking basics? Should I show her Linux? How about some very basic coding? I've already backed Robot Turtles, which she'll be getting this Christmas. I've also very carefully considered when she might first be allowed access to The Internet. The scary scary Internet. I'm thinking I'll have to create a whitelist of sites when that time arrives: Kids' games, Wikipedia, and a few others.
Lastly, board games. She still struggles a bit with being a good sport when she doesn't win, which is why cooperative games like Castle Panic, Forbidden Island, or AnimaLogic work so well, but she's been doing better. I just need to keep reminding myself to put the focus on being a good sport before we start playing, as that helps a lot.
During this whole article, I've been talking about Lia, who's six. I'll of course be thinking all the same thoughts about my younger daughter once she's there, but at present, Ella isn't yet two, and I'm stuck at showing her picture books and trying to get her to say a new word or two.
Previously: Parenthood, Games, and Toys
How on earth is *that* hard?