Monday, October 7, 2013

the wishbone and brain development


when we were young my brother and i loved breaking the wishbone. it was an annual tradition, typically occurring a few days after our thanksgiving feast. my mom left the bone out on the counter to dry which gave me a few days to contemplate what my wish would be.

i'm learning more and more about brain development as we've been walking through different therapies over the past year. graham happens to be in the magical stage of thinking. i've been so discouraged lately because i've noticed him getting so angry and blame-oriented when he gets hurt. he'll accidentally trip over a shoe that's lying in the middle of the hallway (yes, the very shoe i told him to put away) and he will pick up that shoe and throw it across the room, just furious that the shoe tripped him. i thought my son was crazy. turns out he's normal. he's just in the stage where he truly believes that shoe reached out, grabbed his foot and caused him to stumble. this fairytale stage of thinking, now that i know what it is, sure is fun!

harrison is entering a different stage of brain development - logical thinking. he reasons now in a more sequential, rules-based way. he's less magical and more matter-of-fact. i like this stage, too, because if i make a rule, he will follow it. rules are my new best friend!

last week i cooked up a whole chicken and saved the wishbone so my boys could experience the fun of breaking it. i left the bone out on the counter for a few days to dry. the boys had time to think long and hard about their wishes.


logical harrison wished that they could get bunk beds.

magical graham wished that a knight would come to our house.


doesn't that just make you smile?


harrison ended up with the larger half, making him the winner, but really i'm the one who lucked out! i love these kiddos!

1 comment:

Leslie said...

So does that mean you will be getting bunk beds soon? :)