In the past 5 1/2 yrs, Yoshi was like a little clay that allows us to "mold" him anyway we want him to be. The time that he's away from us were very limited, so there are very little room for him to explore the outside world.
As he is starting to attend everyday kindergarten and full day Japanese school, sometimes I do wish to know more of what he's doing at school. Some of his same age friends are watching different TV programs. And from the conversation among kids, as well as their playing style, Yoshi has started to realize there are a lot more beyond Shinkansen, Disney characters, "Shimajiro", & "Anpanman". His curiosity were shown when he's imitating others' behavior, though it's not harmful fighting (rough playing) like some, but caught my attention.
Lately, I have been in a dilemma on how to deal with this change. Yoshi is a great kid, he knows rough play is not allowed, nor will he act on it. But when all his friends were talking about those superhero characters, pretending to be one of those while playing, the curiosity of Yoshi got him wanting to know more. The hardest part is to teach him how to react to other's rough play. I certainly do not teach him to fight back, that woudn't solve the problem. I encourage him to tell the kids to stop. But is walking away means escaping from situation? Not fighting back means weakness? Nori said kids will figure out on their own. But as a mom, I felt like I "should" come up with a book with all the right answers for him..... Of course in reality, that's not the case. I know someday when I look back to this moment, this issue is nothing compare to the teenage stage....
Anyway, my friend has suggested us perhaps to let Yoshi watch once on those non-cartoon program. By doing so, hope to ease his curiosity, and understand where the other kids were copying from , and maybe Yoshi could make his own judgement by discussing with us. I must say, I was/am in a defense mode. I'm not sure if this is the right way or not, but this is the only method to try right now. This afternoon, with Nori at home, we let Yoshi watch Ultraman ウルトラマン for the first time. (in fact, most of his Japanese school friends were interest in Kamen Rider 仮面ライダー. But the idea of fighting each other instead of the monster, seems much more violent) Well, I guess photo below will tell you all about his reaction. ^_^ After watching for 20 mins, I had to stop the program, just at least being the first time. Yoshi seems a bit nervous watching that, but at the same time, excited about it.
I know this whole thing is more about "ME". Nori has a more lay back perspective. Afterall, he grew up from those. Boys will always be boys. I guess, it's a good thing for us to have different perspectives, kind of making it more balance for Yoshi.
I know this is just the beginning, Ultraman & Spiderman? no gun toy (absolutly) & no sword toy? taekwondo & kendo sports? where do we draw a line? I don't have the answer, but perhaps we will figure out together with Yoshi during this growing journey.
