OK...another open letter

[Six Igaly]

A couple of days ago I created a thread addressed to one of our fellow residents. What I said was what I thought, the way I said it however, was not so nice which another fellow resident made clear to me in her reply.
That reply made me realize I should have addressed the person directly so I did and sended a copy of my thread in IM.
The way this resident replied was so unexpected, not a word about the things I said, just about how expensive Photoshop is.
So I told about Gimp and then asked why this was the only reply I got.
I still don't know. So that made me think: "What to think of this!" I decided to give it some time. Because, when I am in a bad mood, I most likely would come with a negative explanation. And when in a good mood most likely not. But what if it would just pop up, without even thinking about it? Well, that happened today, in a way.
I still can't say why. But what I can say, no matter what the reason is, this is beyond being stubborn. I caught myself in admiring the person in her/his persistence and in the way he/she ignores everything people say, only focused on the goal. There is nothing wrong with that. The mistake I made was comparing the two of us in learning everything about SL. (That was not the reason for HOW I said things.)

[Marigold Devin]

Just this morning, I found myself watching a ten minute TV show that was aimed at youngest-aged school children. In the UK they are in what is called a reception class. It was fascinating. Children between about three and four years old were already showing very different traits. Whether this was by nature or nurture, I could not know.

Let me try and explain better.

The teacher got the kids in her care to put on their coats as they were all going out into the yard.  The scene had been set for a specific activity, but the children were not to know that. A toy cat had been placed up in a tree, one of its paws marked with red paint, to indicate it was not only stuck in the tree, but that it was injured. 

Some of the children, with their own agenda, just automatically went running off to play in the yard.  One or two of the children noticed the cat straightaway, and pointed at it and said "look, a cat". This made some of the other children come to look too, but still there were children that just wanted to play and they had no interest at all in the plight of the toy cat stuck in the tree.

The teacher continued with her roleplay, and asked the children, in all seriousness, what they should do about the cat.  It was discussed for a few minutes, and it was decided that the best option would be to fetch a ladder and rescue the cat.

One of the children had her arms in the air, desperately wanting to be a big part of the cat's care. The teacher, instructing the little girl to handle the cat very carefully, transferred the cat into the child's arms, and the child, indeed, followed the instructions very carefully, and carried that little injured cat as though it were made of china. 

Some of the other children had lost interest by now and had gone to run around with their friends in the yard. Other children stayed with the teacher and the cat, waiting for further information. Some spoke, some were quiet. 

Only one child, when a real life vet was brought into the scene to bandage up the cat's leg (!) declared, as if the whole world had gone mad, in a very impatient tone "But its a TOY cat!!!"

Maybe you, Six, would have been that child.  I think I would have been the child desperately wanting to hold the cat and be its main carer.  The OP in that other thread would have been one of the kids running around, but would have been asking about "what should I do if I ever find a toy cat stuck up a tree", but would probably be running around again before the answer was given, seeming to take not much notice.

Everyone does have their own way of learning, from a very early age.

It takes all sorts to make a world.

[Dillon Levenque]

I really enjoyed that story. I shall ignore that part of me that suggests I'd have pegged it for a toy cat straightaway and gone off to play, and instead believe I'd have been at the very least carrying the ladder. (the British phrasing and word usage was deliberate; I can talk pretty English if i have to).

I did not see the earlier thread to which I believe both of you are responding. I did see some responses that suggested to me who the original OP was.  I've only chimed in once since this onslaught began but I do have an opinion.

Hearing from someone,

"I want it all! I want it now! And I want it delivered!"

is mildy cute the first time, but if it is a constant theme, it wears on people in a rush.

[Marigold Devin]

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mommy"

"Mom"

(sensation of tugging at legs)

Yes, it starts off cute, but does get annoying.

You're in the UK - go look for "Time for School" on Cbeebies. Its better than Balamory.

[Snugs McMasters]

I also enjoyed that story, Marigold, though there's a kind of child not mentioned in it. Where's the little girl who, having spotted the teacher placing the toy cat in the tree, swaps it with a real one (an ornery real one that nibbles on children's toes) while nobody's looking?

I knew a little girl like that. In your story, she would have locked me in the broom closet because I saw what she did.

 

[Dillon Levenque]

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Marigold Devin wrote:

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mom"

"Mommy"

"Mom"

(sensation of tugging at legs)

Yes, it starts off cute, but does get annoying.

You're in the UK

 - go look for "Time for School" on Cbeebies. Its better than Balamory.

---

 

LOL. I'm in the US. California born and bred. My most recent British ancestor emigrated to the US before the Revolution. I did check youtube and it has a bunch of Cheebies 'Time for School' episodes. It also appears to have every episode of Balamory ever made—7 pages!—so if I run out of things to do I'll check that out as well. :-)

[Persephone Emerald]

That was a lovely story, Marigold. :-)

* Goes back to having tea with my own stuffed animals now. *

[Marigold Devin]

I got it into my head you lived close by me in RL. You just must remind me of someone.

[Marigold Devin]

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Snugs McMasters wrote:

I also enjoyed that story, Marigold, though there's a kind of child not mentioned in it. Where's the little girl who, having spotted the teacher placing the toy cat in the tree, swaps it with a real one (an ornery real one that nibbles on children's toes) while nobody's looking?

I knew a little girl like that. In your story, she would have locked me in the broom closet because I saw what she did.

 

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That's probably why everything is so open-plan nowadays! Toooo many kids going missing in broom closets. (Try telling a kid these days what a broom is and they'll probably ask which app they need to find it on!)

[Marigold Devin]

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Persephone Emerald wrote:

That was a lovely story, Marigold. :-)

* Goes back to having tea with my own stuffed animals now. *

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I'm glad it touched you.

It took me longer to explain the programme than to actually watch it, and there was a second part too, after the vet had been and the kids were encouraged to pretend they were vets with their own vet surgeries.

There may have been one child who had aspirations to be a taxidermist rather than a vet, and another possibly could have been useful to have in ancient egypt, judging by how he encased one soft toy animal in bandages.

And the cutest of all was this little girl who spent absolutely ages trying to find a heartbeat in her soft toy, using a toy stethoscope. Awwww

[Six Igaly]

Thank you for sharing Marigold. This was a good metaphore. And I can't tell if that child would have been me, it is possible, no doubt. And of course, everyone does things his or her way. I always knew that, that is why I brought that up, remembering that. And in learning is no right or wrong ever. ( If that excists anyway.)