Theories of Childhood, Second Edition (Carol Garhart Mooney) / quote 54 of 70
Ironing the baby: single-focus thinking
Preoperational children also tend to focus on one attribute of an object or person at a time. It is hard for them to think of their mother as their grandma’s daughter, for instance. This single-focus thinking is revealed in children’s conversations, if adults know how to listen for it. For example, a Head Start teacher tells the story of a little girl in her class whose mom has had a new baby. The teacher shows the children pictures of babies in books. The children discuss how wrinkly and funny-looking babies are when they are born. The teacher tells the children that she heard one boy tell his mother that she should iron the baby. None of the children laugh at this or show any alarm. No one says, “Oh, that is awful. That would hurt the baby.”