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I’ve seen the video Julie posted and was astonished by it — and I've witnessed a few melt-downs like those Mark and James posted. Once, my two-year old daughter stripped all her clothes off in a supermarket aisle and had to be carried out to the car naked, all because I put my foot down and wouldn't buy her something she wanted to have (I can't remember what it was — it could have been anything).
Most often young children learn through the process of observation/imitation/emulation, mirroring emotions, mannerisms and language of their parents’/adult caregivers. Tienna (Julie’s video) has channelled her mother, I think. It’s really quite beautiful.
Here is how easily children can be influenced/manipulated by adults. I don’t know if I should be offended by it or give in to my baser instincts and guffaw at a child’s gullible nature. I guess there’s room for both. I laughed.
Still, there is a resilience to children… Thankfully. Most children have a fairly high threshold for weathering the well-meaning but ill-advised parental shaping of their offspring — Larkin’s “This Be The Verse” being the definitive word on the subject.
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