Bit of fun! What Would You Ask a Toddler?

Joe Mobley

11 years ago

So, what was it like in there?

Joe Mobley

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seasoned

11 years ago

Well, ironically, I might be tempted to try to ask them some things(which I can't mention here

to get their innate view of life) and also how far back they remember. Surprisingly, a LOT of people seem to have trouble remembering before the age of 5, and I guess many can't even remember before 15, IF THAT. Look at all the "studies", and the horrible ideas of education, etc...

Steve

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Daniel Evans 11 years ago

I think the most interesting and hilarious thing in the world would be to monitor what a child dreams about on a television.

...or pets!
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Helen Doherty

11 years ago

Joe,

Good question.

Steve,

What can't you mention on here - the mind boggles!! Send me a message, if it can't be public please do.

Helen

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Helen Doherty: What Would Happen If We All Let Rip(ple)?

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seasoned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Helen Doherty

Joe,

Good question.

Steve,

What can't you mention on here - the mind boggles!! Send me a message, if it can't be public please do.

Helen

It has "political" implications, even if it isn't REALLY political. Such things are forbidden here.

Steve
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Helen Doherty

11 years ago

Daniel, yes I think their dreams would be an interesting place to visit!

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thunderbird

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Helen Doherty

Being a mum of a toddler, I'd love to know what is going on in my little girl's mind!

So...

If you could ask a toddler anything (and they could answer), what would you ask them?

Helen

I have a two-year-old son. I guess he pretty much says or conveys what's on his mind. It is interesting what captures his interest, since I've not pushed things on him but let his interests develop organically.

He's almost like a stereotypical little boy. He shows no interest in the doll his feminist grandmother gave him (LOL) though I never discouraged him from playing with it (but, I have to admit I am not displeased that he doesn't want to play with dolls). In pre-school has always gravitated towards cars, trains, and trucks despite there being an abundance of other toys such. That doesn't come from me, since any interest I may have in vehicles now are inspired by his enthusiasm for them.

He's friendly but can be quite aggressive, though I haven't been aggressive towards him. Notably, he is always friendly to other toddlers, and simply moves away from them if they are nasty to him. Good thing, too, since he's remarkably strong.

I guess my questions are more about what characteristics are particular to him and what common with most toddlers, how and if the behavior of male toddlers differs from that of females. If I could get an in-depth answer to a question from him, I would ask, "What is it about cars and trains that fascinates you so much?" Another question would be, "Why do like jazz music, classical music, and country music, but not heavy metal and rock songs? What's wrong with rap music?"

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

11 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

I have a two-year-old son. I guess he pretty much says or conveys what's on his mind. It is interesting what captures his interest, since I've not pushed things on him but let his interests develop organically.

He's almost like a stereotypical little boy. He shows no interest in the doll his feminist grandmother gave him (LOL) though I never discouraged him from playing with it (but, I have to admit I am not displeased that he doesn't want to play with dolls). In pre-school has always gravitated towards cars, trains, and trucks despite there being an abundance of other toys such. That doesn't come from me, since any interest I may have in vehicles now are inspired by his enthusiasm for them.

He's friendly but can be quite aggressive, though I haven't been aggressive towards him. Notably, he is always friendly to other toddlers, and simply moves away from them if they are nasty to him. Good thing, too, since he's remarkably strong.

I guess my questions are more about what characteristics are particular to him and what common with most toddlers, how and if the behavior of male toddlers differs from that of females. If I could get an in-depth answer to a question from him, I would ask, "What is it about cars and trains that fascinates you so much?" Another question would be, "Why do like jazz music, classical music, and country music, but not heavy metal and rock songs? What's wrong with rap music?"

It is interesting to note, that researchers have put out human toys to Chimpanzees, and they innately migrated to the 'toys of their gender', with no previous example of what to select - young male chimps select toys which suggested aggression or dominance, and female chimps selected toys of nurturing...

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seasoned

11 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

It is interesting to note, that researchers have put out human toys to Chimpanzees, and they innately migrated to the 'toys of their gender', with no previous example of what to select - young male chimps select toys which suggested aggression or dominance, and female chimps selected toys of nurturing...

With human boys it isn't always signs of dominance or aggression. I, for example, tended to migrate towards technical or construction toys. I remember having a cap gun, but it was NOT a big thing. When I got access to REAL guns, I STILL didn't use them much.

But the radioshack electronic gadgets, heathkit, fischer technic, etc....? OH YEAH! I also got a wood burner, lincoln logs, erector set, etc... NEVER had any dolls or action figures, and never wanted any.

I once went to an office where my mother worked. They made electronic test gadgets.

Well, a company tried to sell them a chip. You CAN'T do that! It is WORTHLESS, and it would take a LOG time to build and test. So WHAT do they do? They send a reference kit out. To keep me busy, some workers gave me a reference kit for a meter. It had the PC board, parts, and of course, the chip they were trying to sell. When we left, I had a little multimeter!

! I had a lot of fun, and no interest to say "Can we go home now?".

It is rumored that a company called IBM was sent such a reference kit, for the 8088, and it became the IBM PC. It WOULD explain why the ROM is the only thing they copyrighted.

Steve

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

With human boys it isn't always signs of dominance or aggression. I, for example, tended to migrate towards technical or construction toys. I remember having a cap gun, but it was NOT a big thing. When I got access to REAL guns, I STILL didn't use them much.

But the radioshack electronic gadgets, heathkit, fischer technic, etc....? OH YEAH! I also got a wood burner, lincoln logs, erector set, etc... NEVER had any dolls or action figures, and never wanted any.

I once went to an office where my mother worked. They made electronic test gadgets.

Well, a company tried to sell them a chip. You CAN'T do that! It is WORTHLESS, and it would take a LOG time to build and test. So WHAT do they do? They send a reference kit out. To keep me busy, some workers gave me a reference kit for a meter. It had the PC board, parts, and of course, the chip they were trying to sell. When we left, I had a little multimeter!

! I had a lot of fun, and no interest to say "Can we go home now?".

It is rumored that a company called IBM was sent such a reference kit, for the 8088, and it became the IBM PC. It WOULD explain why the ROM is the only thing they copyrighted.

Steve

I was one of those kids who took apart everything to see how it worked as well - whether it was pens or pistols...I didn't recall technical toys mentioned in the study (probably not considered given the primate subjects) so I didn't mention it - but I would hope all children of both genders exposed to toys dealing with sciences, analyzing, reverse engineering, building, mathematics, and like subjects develop more rounded and creative thought processes - and have a more equal footing in the world.

(Though, I don't know - Oppenheimer may have liked to play with guns when he was a kid...he just wanted to build "the biggest one of all"...

)

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seasoned

11 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

I was one of those kids who took apart everything to see how it worked as well - whether it was pens or pistols...I didn't recall technical toys mentioned in the study (probably not considered given the primate subjects) so I didn't mention it - but I would hope all children of both genders exposed to toys dealing with sciences, analyzing, reverse engineering, building, mathematics, and like subjects develop more rounded and creative thought processes - and have a more equal footing in the world.

(Though, I don't know - Oppenheimer may have liked to play with guns when he was a kid...he just wanted to build "the biggest one of all"...

)

Well, The best physical thing that was technical that Germany worked with was pressure driven engines like Jets and Rockets. I would have been attracted to THAT also! In fact, I DID build a few Estes rockets. I built a radio shack one also, but it was ridiculously complicated. at least I learned about center of gravity and center of pressure and how they drive rocket design.

Feminists can say all they want but, when I was a kid, it seemed like females WEREN'T generally interested in such things. It isn't like anyone is stopping them. And if there is ANY pressure for boys to act like boys, it comes from OTHER boys! But girls are not generally pushed to act one way or another.

A girl can wear pink frilly girly girl clothes get dolled up with makeup, have REAL LONG hair, etc.... They can also wear any other color or black, pants, no makeup, have real short hair, and be a tomboy. They may not even hear it mentioned. If a boy tried to be like a girly girl, like I described, he would likely REALLY get beat up, etc... BTW there were BOTH type of girls in my generation AND my parents, and likely THEIR parents. My mother said SHE was a bit of a tomboy. Though I saw pictures where she definitely WAS a girly girl type. HECK, with my asian american cousins, the older one, KIM, was DEFINITELY a girly girl type. Her sister, Kathy, was a tomboy type. I didn' care, and it didn't seem that their navy patriotic American father or japanese born and raised JAPANESE patroit mother pushed them either way.

As for the tests with primates, most of the stuff I used would have been physically hard for them, etc... Imagine trying to start a screw and a nut on two rail pieces. Yeah, you can only go so far.

Steve

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HeySal

11 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

It is interesting to note, that researchers have put out human toys to Chimpanzees, and they innately migrated to the 'toys of their gender', with no previous example of what to select - young male chimps select toys which suggested aggression or dominance, and female chimps selected toys of nurturing...

There are instincts that are gender specific. In nature the female is more "planted" while men roam - search of food, yadda yadda - while women are built to have and raise children. The traditional division of labor actually developed around these instincts. So naturally, some toys are of more interest to one gender or the others.

I was not completely natural in my selections. Dolls scared the crap out of me (and still give me the willies), so I never liked them. I would play with stuffed animals as if they were human dolls, though. On the other hand, I loved my bows and arrows (rubber suction tips at that age, of course) and toy guns.

What would I ask a kid? I think I'd ask them if they see things that nobody else seems to see. It's said they are sensitive to things that they are socialized against being sensitive to.

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thunderbird 11 years ago

Originally Posted by HeySal

<snip>

I was not completely natural in my selections. Dolls scared the crap out of me (and still give me the willies), <snips>

My toddler has reactions like that to store mannequins, forcing his mommy to go clothes shopping alone (thank you, son).
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seasoned

11 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

He's almost like a stereotypical little boy. He shows no interest in the doll his feminist grandmother gave him (LOL) though I never discouraged him from playing with it (but, I have to admit I am not displeased that he doesn't want to play with dolls).

Early on, I practically grew up with a girl. SHE liked dolls, playing house, etc... She never affected me one bit. And I didn't seem to affect her. She was a close neighbor that I was probably near from about 3yo to about 9yo(except for a year or 2). And her mother would sometimes take us BOTH to and from school. BTW she was only about a month younger than I was and we were in the same grade. Her mother used to work at the same place my mother used to work, and we both went to the same school.

Another question would be, "Why do like jazz music, classical music, and country music, but not heavy metal and rock songs? What's wrong with rap music?"

HEY HEY! I am the SAME way! I could probably say why, but some might not like it. I DO like some rock though. But your equating it to heavy metal makes me think you are talking about the HARD rock I often DON'T like.

Steve

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thunderbird

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

<snip>

HEY HEY! I am the SAME way! I could probably say why, but some might not like it. I DO like some rock though. But your equating it to heavy metal makes me think you are talking about the HARD rock I often DON'T like.

Steve

I don't equate them. I know rock is an umbrella term for lots of very different styles. Come to think of it, maybe his response would be something like yours with more advanced articulation than, "Bye bye loud mess. Hello jazz," when he wants me to stop playing the heavy-leaning rock station.

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