Prof. Day

Should you bring Lil' Billy to Disneyland?

Temperament is one of the defining factors of childhood. Since most children aren't able to communicate everything they want through words, they let their actions and emotions do the speaking for them. Temperament is different for all babies, and it plays a part in personality development. The three basic baby tempers are as follows: cool, wary and explosive. Cool babies are relaxed in nature and wary babies always look before they leap. Explosive babies are, to put it nicely, rather obnoxious. Parents and caregivers must apply different techniques and approaches to different babies.

No two babies are alike! They all differ in 9 ways: mood,adaptability, sensitivity, distractibility, persistence, approach/withdrawal, and reaction intensity. It is important to remember that even though they may share a similar temperament, they may react to events in opposite ways. Babies are confusing.

So, let's say a parent thinks it finally time to take Lil' Billy on his very first trip to Disneyland. For every kid, this is comparable to the pilgrimage to Mecca, in that it must be done at least once in their lifetime as soon as they are able. The younger they are, the more magical the trip may be. But alas, not all babies/children are alike! It is essential that the parent knows if Lil' Billy is ready for the staggering amount of stimuli Disneyland provides. Because if his psyche isn't well prepared, then chances are he will never want to return. Let's pretend Lil' Billy is a cool kid If Billy is a cool, mild-mannered youth, then he gets the green light to attend Mecca..err Disneyland. Almost 40% of all children share this temperament, to the relief of millions of parents out there. A cool kid is very easy going, they adapt quickly and have regular rhythms. An example of that would be that they sleep well at night, and usually stick to their sleep schedule. They have an average persistence and activity levels, so they won't cause too much trouble. And if they try to, you won't have to worry that they will try hard or long to succeed. They also aren't very fussy or sensitive, so parents aren't spending half their time trying to calm them down. Because of this easy going attitude, these kids tend to receive less attention, because care givers are under the impression that they don't need it. Not true! All kids of any kind of temper need love and hugs, not just the scaredy cats and annoying ones. If Billy is a cool kid, I would give his parents the thumbs up to go on the trip. But just because he is a cool kid doesn't mean to let him experience things on his own. He still needs supervision. Luckily, he is quick to adapt, so when Goofy eventually rears his unusual face, Billy shouldn't be traumatized. On a last note, take extra care when going through the 'It's a Small World" ride. That traumatizes even the bravest of souls.

Lets preTend Billy is a wary dude Uh oh. Wary kids should be wary of a place as daunting as Disneyland. With so much action and magic happening, a wary Billy would absorb so much so quickly that his brain would go *pop*! If that were to happen, Billy would be horrified at the sight of talking mice and ducks forever. Can't let that happen! My first bit of advice would be to wait. A wary kid is fearful of many things, especially on their first tries. They need to feel secure and have a suitable amount of guidance with them before they attempt new things. A wary kid likes to take it one step at a time, whereas Disneyland is like a smorgasbord of new stuff all at once. A wary kid would dislike that, and they would dislike you for bringing them to a place that scares them half to death. If Billy was a very wary boy, I would suggest that he age a bit, let him strengthen his psyche, you know? Let him do some mental push ups before throwing him out in the battle field. I would also suggest starting out with other, smaller events and