During our previous Kids Cafe – The Art of Storytelling, Yashika told a wonderful story called Achoo! This is a tale about the forest animals imagining how the sneeze of an elephant is.
Do you think an elephant’s sneeze is louder or softer than a deer’s sneeze? Do you think its stronger than a tiger’s sneeze?
Well turns out that an elephant’s sneeze is quite a whimper (or view here)!
In this edition, let’s read and reflect on the Achooo story and the assumptions, biases and context that influence our parenting.
3 Ideas
1. Assumptions are like mental shorthands. Example: we may not check the checkout receipts all the time or inquire about our children’s teacher’s credentials. For busy parents assumptions can be a time-saving friend or a regretable mistake.
2. Biases are like mental blocks. Example: our bias towards people who look similiar, or bias towards ‘my idea’. Our biases are inherited by our children and become constraints for their holistic growth.
3. Context is limited to what we know, now. Recognizing that there is more knowledge in the world beyond our understanding helps us stay humble and open to new ideas.
2 Inserts
1. The scientific method is engineered with failure in mind. Being curious about what we don’t know, what we think we know is the way to grow as an individual and a parent.
One of the most important lessons of the scientific method: if you cannot fail, you cannot learn.” – Eric Reiss
2. So much of our traditions and rituals are really implementation of certain societal biases.
On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. – Nelson Mandela
1 Inquiry
What are our assumptions and biases as parents? Where can we strive to gain more context to make better decisions?
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You are invited to share the upcoming Kids Cafe – Art of Storytelling (the sequel) with your family and friends. Refer the most sign-ups and win a signed copy of The Tale of Tails by Lipika Sahoo, and VIP access to a personal storytelling and Q&A with Lipika herself! Go to the event page and share the story.
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Let’s share the story,
Ricky
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Kul Thoughts is a project to draw insights about parenting and childcare from stories around us.
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