#i conquered the vampire thing by being overly interested in them later which is evident in some of the stuff i love now akjldkljfd

[septembersghost]

I remember a kid when he was 5 or 6 whose parents were careful of the music their kids listened too. Their kid said some music made him feel really emotional. In a way it made me think how the news on TV would scare me at his age. Certain things - especially music- can strike a chord with our emotions. Kids may not fully understand- but they are very sensitive.

my mom was very careful about what media i experienced when i was little because i was such a sensitive child and unexpected things upset me greatly. i somewhat would confront this as a teenager/twenty-something, and i feel like i wrote about this recently, but who knows with my brain fog - i've recently looped back around to this in an unexpected way, where i'm just having a heightened sensitivity to things as i've gotten older, and am being extra cautious about what i expose myself to/what's in my head because it will creep up on me in a detrimental way. idk what precipitated this exactly (well, i DO a little bit), though i had a conversation about it with a friend who's been feeling the same. (besides, the news is still scary now!)

ANYWAY, rambling, but kids are intuitive and pick up on a lot more than they're often given credit for, and they feel things DEEPLY. plus we know how things that impact us in childhood can carry throughout our lives. just like childhood wonder is very particular and special because kids still have such a sense of belief, their emotions are a lot more raw and close to the surface than they sometimes are for us as adults after we've been trained at times to sublimate or disguise them, or to suspend disbelief and use analytical skills. kids are often quite unguarded, and whole understanding isn't necessary to feel something, but it can make that feel scarier or more overwhelming because we use understanding to frame and work through things. i don't think we should ever talk down to children and that we should treat them with respect and autonomy, but it definitely is necessary to protect them sometimes and to know when to draw boundaries. i'm glad my parents and grandparents did do that with me because they recognized my sensitive nature. i've always been so connected to music that it's caused me those chills/tears/big emotions, but the adults around me being circumspect on my behalf is part of why i love the things i still love now, because i was lucky to grow up exposed to that!