Page 25 - SB-Tooshy and Hushup

PARENT NOTES
The Story of Tooshy and Hushup
TOPIC: We frequently label children with certain behavioral habits as having a certain personality. It may be more relevant to consider that what we label as personality is really the sum of the child’s cognitive coping repertoire ... the things they tell themselves.
A child who is able to tell him/herself that a difficult situation is, No big deal and I can deal effectively with it, will be labeled as mature or having a good personality. A child who tells him/herself, It is just too terrible to make a mistake, will be labeled as having a shy personality.
A child who tells himself, These others are all foolish, why don’t they listen to me, may be seen as having an overbearing or self-absorbed personality. We make the assumption that this personality has some type of special power and is what causes the behavior of the child. In reality, the behavior we see is the result of their thinking (so rapid and habituated) that they are unaware of it.
The label of a particular personality is our limited attempt at understanding, why they do what they do. This story illustrates examples of two “personality types” and the problems that the underling thinking can cause.
This is another of Cosmos’ legends about animals dealing with a changing world. The two characters are Tooshy, who is a Fradicat and Hushup, who is a Lookatme. They are attending an animal’s convention to deal with problems caused by the changes in
the world.
22