Kids vs. Grown Ups
Last night I brought my hoop to a concert down at the Santa Monica pier, and ended up hanging out with a little girl named Zoyla, who was an instant magician with the hoop tricks. This lead me to muse on what it is about children that they can pick up a hoop and instantly start working the magic, where-as adults are constantly deferring, "Oh no, I can't do it. I can't." The strange thing is that often, these adults are initially right! Where-as I've NEVER seen a child pick up a hoop and not be able to rock it on the first try, I have seen more than a few adults totally unable to keep the hoop up…at least until they get the hang of it.
I realize that this is an obvious question, but I'd love to hear some obvious answers: why is it so hard for grown-ups to hoop? This little girl was picking up tricks the first time I showed them to her — tricks that took me an hour or two to figure out.
Is it that we, as adults, find it just so improper to swing our hips? Is it that we're so convinced that was CAN'T do it that we don't?
Comments
I think it is a combination of both of those thoughts. I also think that many adults swing those hips once and let it fall. I have to remind them that they must continue to swing those hips - one time just won't do the trick.
Posted by: Adelina | July 14, 2003 3:50 AM
Yes, but WHY do adults only swing those hips once? Is it because it feels somehow dirty? Is it because they just don't understand how hoops work? Why do kids inherently know to keep swinging, and grown ups dont?
Posted by: Ariel | July 14, 2003 7:17 AM
Just as with any type of learning- children are more able to learn things quickly just by watching and imitating what they see over and over again (this is called Conditioning). You know the saying 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks', well that is true to a certain extent. Adults can't learn a language as quickly as a 5 or 6 year old can. Children instictually imitate, adults are stuck in thier ways. An adult might look at the hoop and say "this is kids stuff, I can't do that", while a child will pick it up and say "wow, this is so cool, I can do it". And from the mouths of babes we all learn about the power of positive speech. Besides, if a larger and heavier hoop is easier for an adult to move, imagine how much easier it is for a child to move it.
Posted by: Kandice Bishop | July 29, 2003 3:09 AM
As a 52 Y.O., I'd just like to say that my reluctance at first was partly due to the "lacivious" appearance hooping lends itself to. I am SO over that! I also believe that as we grow older we sometimes need to be reminded how to REALLY move again.
peace y'all!
Posted by: amaranthine | October 24, 2004 3:27 PM