Life is an interesting journey. The voyage is like a learning curve that gets steeper as one explores the phases to it. One is oblivious of the fact whether which segment of time may make or break one’s expedition. Yet the base line remains the same saying every peal of time shapes, defines and refines the journey to its penultimate purpose.
It takes 36 months of gestation for a human to avatar onto this orb. He enters the first phase to the tour of life – Baby. The age range defined to this phase is 0-1 years. When a new born is introduced to life he begins with a serious anxiety of exploring his senses and begins adapting to the ambience. This phase marks the commencement of the phenomena called identification. The young one easily identifies the mother and showcases displeasure if any unfamiliar person comes in between. Milicent Washburn Shinn one of the first women to earn a Ph.D from University of California in baby psychology refers the sixth month as ‘The Dawn of Intelligence’ in one of her works, ‘The biography of a Baby’. This is evident through various activities viz. toe sucking. He starts flexing his muscles and tries using it to the fullest. The observation stint too begins in this phase when the baby begins noticing the ceiling fan and the flickering tube light as it glows. The way he tries to fix objects of miscellaneous shapes marks the other arenas of intelligence. The exploration to the baby’s senses reaches its pinnacle and he enters the next phase toddling all the way, the toddler stage.
The baby now feels the sense of confidence and tries to place himself in motion by pushing himself back while grounding his toes or anchoring his thighs to enable his knee as base. The age range to this phase is from 1-3 years. The sense of fear is absent as the toddler moves at his whim irrespective of the obstacles coming his way. He even tries to clasp the supports around and tries to move the way people around do. He enjoys his success and even anticipates the feeling of a fall by palming down his body to ground. It takes several weeks to be in motion and the immense satisfaction his face caries while moving says all. The concept of trust in oneself begins in this phase and if not properly addressed might lead to generation of negative vibes at the very verge of the age. As the child begins moving he discovers himself to be a separate individual and cultivates the same as the phenomena progresses. The toddler believes himself to be independent as he knows no boundaries to the activity he dons. The power struggle of the toddler leads the parent to expect good behaviour from him that leads to frustration instead of aid to the nurturing. The support of the parents at this stage might lead to cultivation of self confidence in the toddler before the first walk that prepares his exposure to the outer environment leading him to the next phase called the preschooler.
The exposure to the outer environment is the first step to this phase. The age range normally is between 3-6 years. The interaction of the parents with the preschooler sounds sense and his understanding about the world and society. The basic necessities and day to day activities are now identified the toddler turned preschooler. The sense of fear formulates itself as the toddler anticipates his encounter with the world behind the walls. This is the reason behind many of the preschoolers resist the first day to their schools. The caregiver should rectify this emotion and handle with consistent sources of affection to break the fear out of the preschooler. The preschooler gets exposed to numerous instances and intellectuals during this stage that defines his stance to the outer world. Moreover new words and digits coming to his party initiate the level of curiosity in his cerebellum. During this stage the child learns to take the initiatives and prepare for leadership roles by various innovative activities undertaken by the caregivers and mentors around. Some negative stints to this phase are aggressive behaviour of children like throwing objects, trying to cross road at own or play with the animals around are rampant which should be well taken care of.
The Tween phase also known as the ‘preteen’ phase falls under the age band of 7-12 years. This phase carries an alien sense of responsibility towards their individualistic thought process. A tween tries his best to do things proactively correct. This phase also includes reading, writing, analyzing situations and doing logical functions like telling the time or working out the jigsaw puzzle. The child may express disobedience, rudeness in his actions. This need to be tackled with patience and inquisitiveness is expected from the parents to identify the root cause behind the outburst. A tween tries to identify the expectations of his parents, teachers and tries to drive attention and remains in the race to get identified. The punishments, oppressions created by caregiver’s failed expectations might drive the child into a complex of being inferior or neglected. This is the phase wherein he generates curiosity towards his genitals which leads to the quest of his sexual identity. Biologically, speaking this phase plays a major role in development of girl psychology and her physical, physiological and psychological identity.
This in turn leads the child to the most decisive stage of life called the Teenager or adolescence. As the name goes the age range to this phase is from 13-19 years. The physical development of the adolescents is visible and evident. Most of the complexities in nature, behaviour and reaction to situations are observed in this phase. The sensation of self esteem introduces itself to the teens’ mind. Sexual attraction, self centred approach, decision making, defending oneself and confusing roles to society are some of the traits of the teen individuation. Moreover the identity confusion, challenging commitments, social and societal expectations leads to frustration of the individual. What more adds to this is the failure at the academic front. The apprehensions of future and consciousness of the present may lead to a pathetic life in the later stages of life. This is the phase when parenting is put at acid test. The communication between the caregivers and the adolescents regarding sex, career, personal needs and expectations shall be well versed.
All these phases of an individual make responsible citizens of the country who in turn build a society. Innovative parenting, genuine attention, thorough communication, patience and consistent love is expected to nurture the saplings into fruit bearing trees that build and decide the future of a civilization.
Image Credit: Angela's photostream
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