“How Would You Like Your Day To Be?”: The C.H.I. Revisited For Children

Rod Newton’s simple question:  “How would you like your day to be?”, helps you to focus your energy and desires.  Moreover, this question could be asked to children to help them clarify what they want in their day and to help you as a parent gain cognition of their wants.  A simple question, and yet, not so simple.   To craft one’s day requires a special kind of building materials;  those of the mind and heart.  When we put this question to children, it shows them we give importance to their desires and that we recognize their uniqueness as human beings.  How often children get lost in the hurried shuffle of everyday affairs.  To begin each day with this simple question is to give our children a feeling of power and direction, which is often lost in a world dominated by adults and their needs.  Let’s not forget that it was only in the 19th century that child psychology came into being.  Alice in Wonderland, published in England in 1865 was the first children’s novel to investigate a child’s mental world, and it also foresaw identity crises, and denial, now commonplaces in the field of psychology.  Until then, the child was often an object of neglect, tyrannical abuse, work exploitation.  Rod’s simple question brings the child into focus, and gives it a dignity and respect, which it was denied for thousands of years.