Monday, September 08, 2008

Environmental influences

Thinking back to leaving Yorkshire also popped into my head how we learn things. I left Yorkshire just before I was 10. When I left, I said "Ow" when I fell over. Within a couple of months of living in Warwickshire, I said "Aie-Yah". WTF? Call it mirroring, blending, whatever. I had changed my behaviour from what was previously defined to suit my new environment.

We've recently had cause to consider how the kids are being raised, after being exposed to some new ideas and rejecting them. That's not what I want to directly talk about now though. It's more how things are learned. We think Connor has a very high tolerance to pain. Obviously, this isn't a boundary that most people want to find the limits of, so I say that based on watching him when he was smaller, and how he'd happily fall over when learning to walk, and had no fear. When I say fall, face-plant would be more accurate. He never seemed to learn to put his hands out, because nothing hurt him, therefore he never used to cry. But he's learned. Callum is much more vocal when he's upset, even if it's just a flesh wound. I think Connor has learned to cry from Callum even though he's not hurt, or in pain to the level where it causes him discomfort. But if he falls over, he's learned that he should cry. Interesting.

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