Author Confession - Prime Children

Thursday, July 4, 2019


Truth is stranger than fiction and sometimes readers don’t get that. The other day one person had a problem with a seven year old in one of my stories. The person thought she was too ‘prime’ for her age. I know better going on my experiences with my son, who has an old soul, and some of the kids I’ve been privileged to observe.

At the job site, the place is overrun with kids at a summer camp. On my visit to the ladies’ room today, I heard one little girl saying she needed privacy (at the top of her voice) because she was changing into her swim suit. After exiting the stall, I asked the counsellor the age of the girls. She said six. When I told her why I asked, she chuckled.

Yes, the kids today are not slouches and I’ve always believed that how they develop depends on the way we treat them. So, yes, the youngsters in my books may seem wiser than their years but I’ve learned that many of them are much more forthright than I was at their age. 

With a bit of encouragement to talk, they amaze me with all the stuff they know. As I’ve told my son on many occasions, “You’re so much brighter than I was at your age.”

He doesn’t believe me, but his grades tell the tale.

7 comments:

  1. I think children today are more knowledgeable in that their parents were more knowledgeable. When I started teaching in 1979, you had some rural children where there was no reading material in the home and perhaps the parents could not read. When I was a child, I remember a friend's mother reading a letter to her dad. Her dad could not read.
    There is a lot of talk of generational memories being passed down and I think this is one item that is passed and fortunately lost as generations come.

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  2. Some kids are wiser. If they are around adults most of the time, they will emulate what they observe even more.

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  3. It's called precocious and a lot of kids are like that. Very poised and smart beyond their years.

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  4. My kids were all advanced in their communications. My son was in junior high and suggested a friend was co-dependent rather than in love. LOL. Maybe our kids are just more verbal than the average? We do deal in words and communication!

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    1. That's more than possible. These day though, my son doesn't communicate as much. He's off in his own world.

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