The natural child-ego is the essence of a child. It is a raw, wild and uninhibited bundle of emotion. The emotions range from curiosity to anger to joy. Interests are fleeting but can be deep when held. However, children are a stream of ideas and entities with a short attention span. Thus the child-ego and children in general naturally bounce from plaything to activity to novelty.
The natural child ego is impulsive. Parents must control and then teach control to children. The natural child-egos want what they want when they want it. Imagine a baby eager to reach out to the bright light to play with and the parent holds their hands down. The child’s first instinct is to fight being restrained or to scream in protest.
They cannot understand that the bright light is an electric bulb that will break in their hand or flame that will burn them. When denied their natural impulses, they become angry. Where possible, they will rebel.
Rebellious responses are simply a direct attempt to circumvent control. Children only learn to stay within the boundaries drawn by rules through physical discipline and immediate consequences when young. It is not until a child is older that they can understand an explanation. A very young child is not able to appreciate the abstract idea that something is dangerous and thus forbidden.
Children are by nature emotional and only learn reason as they approach school age. However, rationality is only possible in adulthood and manifests in the adult-ego.
Children will learn what is harmful when they are harmed. Some exploration results in pinched fingers, burnt hands, stickers embedded in the skin, insect bites or cat scratches. Children then become fearful of anything possibly related to that source of pain. Minor incidents are quickly forgotten. However, memorable events and experiences leaving great pain can have lasting effects for a lifetime.
(continued in part two)
