Monday, March 09, 2009

Happy Belated Birthday


Zaya has an extremely active imagination. One might even say it is overactive. He is frequently so lost in his own thoughts that he is completely unaware of the world that continues to move on around him.

Some of the funniest things he says involve his own perception of his mind and it's contents, both real and imaginary. He calls the place from whence spring all his imaginary friends "Characterland". He says they live there until they get about "this big [holding hands about a foot apart] and then they pop out!"

More than once he has told me that his head is just completely full of words, and he needs to go swing or do something else for a while. These aren't times when I've been trying to teach him anything either. It's usually when he's been reading for a while, or watching a video. He has to get up and run back and forth. He has this goofy little smile on his face and he paces without any awareness of anything around him.

A couple weeks ago he and Mim had a verse in Cubbies that is in a popular song. (Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.) I sang the song for them several times in an effort to make memorizing the verse easier, but they didn't act like they heard me, and both just had fits memorizing it for some reason. I have not repeated the song since then, but suddenly Zaya started singing it in the bathtub tonight; the right words and tune and everything. I said, "How do you know that song? I thought you weren't listening when I tried to teach that to you." He told me, "Well, I had just stuffed it down into my head, but.." "It popped out," Art finished. "Yeah, it just popped out." And he continued singing for awhile. I guess you never know.

On Saturday he also used my philosophical statement from the last post against us. When he wanted his daddy to play with him (Daddy was working in the yard and the backroom) he said, "Daddy, but don't you remember? People are always more important than things." So then we had to explain about duties and roles of grown-ups, and how Daddy working for the family in the morning before he played with the kids in the afternoon was not the same thing as Zaya reading Garfield and ignoring his little sister.

Once again, I have no idea if he accepted that explanation or not. Hopefully it's "stuffed down into his head" and will make sense later when it' "pops out".

6 comments:

Carina said...

Thanks to Grandma Lilibeth, btw, for the picture!

Chandelle said...

Characterland sounds great! Too bad us adults don't retreat there more often!

At least you have encouragement that things you say are being stuffed down. What affirmation to see them pop out!

Chandelle said...

Characterland sounds great! Too bad us adults don't retreat there more often!

At least you have encouragement that things you say are being stuffed down. What affirmation to see them pop out!

aftergrace said...

It really is a darling photo. Zaya is such a smart little boy, the gears are always turning in that sweet little head of his. He's too much fun! :)

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Unknown said...

Knowing how is he, I bet he does remember that lesson. It'll "pop out" just when you are least expecting it! What a boy.