Child philogagging

Logic, Wisdom, Knowledge?...These are disciplines which baffles me everytime I encounter an experience that requires my utmost ability to make use of any. Wanna be a philosopher? Talk to a four year old and he will bring you to an infinite regression where every question requires an answer and the ultimate answer will lead you to a Creator.

A child's first encounter with the world and how he communicates is by instinct. When he's hungry, wet, or irritable he cries. This is the signal that a child needs attention. As he grows older, sign languages become predominant which will eventually lead to single words. A child starts gaining knowledge by identifying certain objects and actions. Simple words like 'eat', 'milk' and 'booboo' enter his vocabulary as something physical. Later on, association with intangibles called emotions such as being 'mad', 'happy', angry integrate with a host of more complexities.

Then as a child grows to the age of accountability, he realizes that the effects do have causes, and therefore the need for more knowledge and logic permeates the innocent mind. So the proverbial "Why?" is often associated with this age.
Two ways of handling situations always come to mind. The "what I know best" Way or the "Filipino Way"

"WHAT I KNOW BEST WAY!"

mom: Dong, time to eat na.
kid: Mommy, why do I have to eat? I just want to play, mommy.
mom: we all have to eat, so we can have energy go play
kid: why, mommy?
mom: food makes our body move.
kid: why ?
mom: just like a car needs gasoline to run, we need food.
kid: why?
mom: when you play, don't you sweat?
kid: yes
mom: and when you feel like, don't you go potty.
kid: yes
mom: well, its the food in your body that makes you do all these things
when you play, the food gives you the energy to run fast, and then
the food comes out in the form of your sweat.And when you go potty
the food again comes out in another form. So if you have no
food anymore inside of you, you'll be too weak to run and play.
kid: why?
mom: well, thats how our body works.
kid: why?
mom: because we were made that way.
kid: why?
mom: God made us that way?
kid: why?
mom: your food is getting cold. I'll answer you when you finish your food
kid: okay mommy!

or you can answer "THE FILIPINO WAY"

mom: Dong, time to eat na.
kid: 'Nay, why do we have to eat?
mom: stop asking too many questions, now EAT!
kid: Pero nay, I still want to play.
mom: Sigue, if you don't eat, the Lord will get angry.

(end of story)

Sounds familiar? I guess as Filipinos, we are responsible in raising our kids the right way. When we refer a Creator as the ultimate cause, then we have established his Being. Let me give you my own factual experience in explaining to an American four year old, when he asked me regarding my race.

William: Tita, why is your color brown and I am white.
me: Well, its because we are made differently. I have more melanin cells
in my body while you have less (buti na lang I read a lot)
William: why?
me: Well, that's because in my country, we have summer all year long.
Which means I need to have more protection from the sun.
William: why? what you mean?
me: remember,when we go swimming,we need to put on sunblock so we wont
burn? right?!
William: yes?!
me: well the melanin cells are sort of a sunblock that we have inside us.
You have less melanin cells because you are less exposed to the sun.
Isn't it that during the winter and the fall we stay mostly indoors
therefore we're not being hit by the sun often, right?
William: Yyyeeaahh?!
me thats how melanin cells were made and work.More exposure to the sun, more
melanin cells needed to protect our body.
William: oh that's why?
me: And if you see darker people then that's becaue their grandmother's
grandmother's grandmother used to live in places where the sun
always hit their skin and so melanin cells were more.
William: Oh! OOOookkkaaayyyy......(end of discussion)

now let me tell you how a filipino would answer:

toto : 'nay! why are some people white and some people black?
nanay : kasi, To, kasalanan ni Lord.
toto : bakit, nay.
nanay : long time ago, the Lord decided to make people. Tapos,sa heaven
He had a huge oven. He cooked the people inside the oven.Yung mga
americano, kulang ang pagkaluto kaya medyo puti. Yung
mga negro, nakalimutan niya sa oven tapos kaya nasunog, nangitim sila.
Eh tayo, mahal tayo ng Lord, so tamang tama lang pagkaluto...( what a story! eh, what about the albinos, did God's oven not work?)


Fear, as someone said, is not the absence of courage but the absence of knowledge. Our elders of yesteryears tried to concoct stories and folklores just to satisfy a questioning mind, thereby sometimes opening up traditional superstition whose purpose is self serving. (sorry, but i could exemplify more in bisaya)

'nay, ngano dili pwede abrihon ang payong sa balay?
'kay malas man gud!
'ngano man 'nay?
kay kung abrihon gud, unya naay swerte sa balay, mura man imong gisalikway..
ah, bitaw noh?

this is an aged old superstition which i think has no basis. I could only conclude that years ago, someone came inside the house with a wet umbrella. To easily dry it off, the umbrell needed to be opened. But since the house was probably small
and occupied the whole house, a wet umbrella would cause more mess (thus the malas). Or an open umbrella drives the malas away like it drives the rain away. Being inside a house on a wet day is a blessing, therefore having it opened, drives away the blessing inside the house. (is that logical for a child? guess so.) And poor kid carries that tradition from generation onwards until someone is smart enough to refute it. (probably an aetheist in the family)

Making up stories to satiate an innocent mind leads to a question of credibility. Along the way, a child will know if you are fibbing or not because he will eventually realize fact from fiction. William Occam, a Franciscan friar and logician says that finding the simplest solution to an answer is the best way of understanding rather than presenting its complexities. Thus, we often find ourselves in story telling scenarios with our children and get amaze with our own creative minds. But how can we keep things simple and still be believeable.

A five year old once asked his father,"Dad, where's mom?"
Dad says," Mommy is at a Tupperware party."
The explanation satisfied the boy for a moment but then he asked his dad,
"what's a tupperware party dad?"
Figuring out the simplest and best explanation he said, "well son, a Tupperware party is a bunch of ladies sitting around and selling plastics to each other."
The boy burst out laughing, "Oh come on dad! what is it really?"

Well, from that incident, a Tupperware party IS indeed a bunch of ladies selling plastic to each other. But I guess Tupperward International sees it as more complex that we'd like to think of.

Books have become an influence in our lives and the only ones we were exposed to were imported, thus becoming part of who we are. We tried to become
like "them" instead of being just us.

As I write this piece, I am compelled to share my burden for the little minds that are being influened by foreign values. Rather than instilling our very own heritage, our christmasses are snowmen, eggnogs and a fat,guy in red suit called Santa bringing gifts; That fall and spring are seasons instead of actions or that toilet paper is so "in" while a tabo of water is so "out". Where Mother's Day, Father's Day and Valentine's Day is part of the Filipino holidays.

The notion of children being seen and not heard is still practiced in many a Filipino homes. I once asked my aunt if that held true for us while growing up because at some point we did keep quiet. It was much clearer when my aunt said that we were allowed to speak our minds, but we were not allowed to question the elders.

Moreover, growing up, emotions were suppressed and an outburst would be considered disrespect or a sign of immaturity. No wonder controlled and negative feelings manifested itself in many forms such as corruption, greed and vengeance. And you wonder why our government is what it is today?

If I were to 'make a difference', I would make books taking away all the foreign themes and instead of Mr. Scrooge, I would probably make "Mr. Mah Lung Kot", a chinese who thinks of nothing but business and hording rice. Or about emotions expressing itself without being disrespectful. Or about what to do when you think something is not right. The subjects are unlimited and filipno stories are endless.

Let's "nip the bud", while we can. As the bible says, "train the child,in the way he should go, and when he does,he will not depart from it. When this is done, it is easier to prime the vine.