Is it possible for children to be empathetic at nineteen months?
Of course, the question requires a little explanation. (Okay, so maybe it doesn’t require it, but you all want to hear the story, right?)
I’ve mentioned that Hayden’s favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba!, yes? So naturally, I’ve been taping episodes just in case the virulent people dominating the discussion at Nick Jr.’s Yo Gabba Gabba! message board succeed in taking the show off the air and forever scaring my child.
And, since Yo Gabba Gabba! is the only show he watches, we rewind the tape and watch the show at least three times a day. By now, we’ve watched the “Sleep” episode a total of six times (it also happens to be the first one that we ever watched).
The first three times we watched it without incident. But the last three times, one song in particular really seemed to disturb Hayden. It begins with Muno (“he’s tall and happy”; the red cyclops) tossing and turning. He can’t seem to fall asleep, and is feeling sad and lonely—and whimpering appropriately.
The rocks in Muno land come to life and sing a song with him, telling him to “Think happy thoughts, happy thoughts / That’s what you gotta do. / Think happy thoughts, happy thoughts / and a smile’ll come back to you.” But before that can happen and reassure his friend, Hayden was in tears—full out crying. He calmed down a bit when I (and the second time, Ryan) came to sit with him and sing the happy thoughts song. (The third time I think was influenced by his fever 🙁 .)
So what do you think? Could Hayden be feeling empathy at nineteen months or was it just a really sad song?
Of course, there are many things that Hayden does that are totally normal for a nineteen month old. Like
love hot dogs and ketchup,
wear mama’s shoes, and
ham for the camera
(a lot).