An Evening with Angus

Location

The observation took place in a restaurant in Brunswick that was a pub in front of the premises and a dining area with a games room at the back of the premises. There was a bingo night in the front area and in the dining room, there were many diners and music was playing. This was a Friday night, and the restaurant was full and lively. We sat at the last available table, in the dining room, with the mother, Lauren sitting beside me and Angus and his friend Michael, opposite us. The decor was modern wooden furniture with wooden tables and chairs and the lighting was dim. The games room had a foosball table, which is a soccer games table, a couch, armchair, a variety of board games and card games. I observed Angus while he was busy in his tricks at the dining table and games room.

Normal daily Routine

Angus has a regular routine; he wakes up at 7:30 and goes to bed at 10:30. He has a regular breakfast, which he sometimes makes for himself. He cleans up after he has finished his meals and takes his plate to the sink. He engages in cleaning and chores around the house, washing dishes, and cleaning his bathroom. He can prepare a snack for himself independently. He arranges his clothes for the next day before going to bed the night before.

Interests and Hobbies

Angus has a wide range of interests. He is very athletic, loves playing basketball, soccer and recently, tennis. He also loves video games, playing card games and board games. “He loves comedy and has a particular taste in absurd styles of comedy”, says his mother. He enjoys specific shows and is quite choosy about his entertainment. He also loves a range of music, particularly hip-hop, but also lots of classics from the 70s and 80s.

Developmental Milestones

Angus did not crawl as a child but began to walk at 11-12 months. He began talking in one-word and short sentences at 11-12 months. Angus was fully toilet trained at 2.5 years old. He began riding a bicycle at the age of 3.5 years (from balance bike to two-wheel bike). Angus knew writing his name at age of 4 to 5 years old. Additionally, he began mastering to read the alphabet chart at 3.5 years and reading of short words at age 5. Angus began reading independently at age 7-8. Angus was able to catch a ball at the age of 5.

Major Transitions

Angus has coped well with major transitions, states his mother Lauren. He started crèche when he was one year old (two days a week) and seemingly enjoyed the experiences. Lauren does not remember him being unusually clingy or unwilling to attend. He was quite proud having started at kinder, and later graduating to the next level, recalled the mother. While he could be a little demotivated about spending time in class at school, he enjoys the social aspect of school. He finds happiness in co-curricular activities. Angus spent a year in France last year, which was a challenge, with new friends and a non-English speaking country, but at the same time never refused to go to school, and generally had a positive attitude about the transition.

Team sports/ games

Angus is actively involved in basketball, and he is playing in a local league in his third season. He is very rule-orientated, with an acute sense of when something seems inconsistent or 'unfair' concerning rules. He is respectful to umpires but perhaps less so to coaches and can show frustration with teammates. Lauren states that he also seems easily upset and emotional when he makes a mistake as if he doesn't want to 'let his team down'.

OBSERVATION DETAILS

I arrived at the restaurant at 7.30 pm, where Lauren, Angus and his friend Michael were waiting for me at the front of the premises. I greeted them, Angus responded with a quiet hello, and we walked inside, I followed behind them to an unoccupied table in the dining room. Angus was dressed in navy blue sportswear that was matching in colors. Angus is small in body size, with dark hair and dark in complexion similar to his mother’s Asian background. Angus and his friend Michael sat side by side. I sat next to the mother Lauren while looking at Angus observantly.

Angus looked for the menu on the table, picked it up and began to read through the list. As he was reading the selection he spoke with his friend on what to choose, with some suggestions for sharing dishes. After five minutes he and his friend decided on a burger each. When asked by the mother if they wanted a drink, Angus instead asked for water. Angus spent a few minutes looking around the room observing the people without talking. While waiting for the food to arrive, Angus and Michael decided to go to the games room, where I followed for observation.

Angus asked his mother for some money to play the foosball game, and she handed him a two-dollar coin. Angus followed behind his friend to the game room. He studied the game for quite some time, walking around the table, feeling how to manoeuver the handles, and searching for where to put the money. After many attempts to place the two-dollar coin in the slot, without success, Angus called out for his mother to help. Once the game was ready to play, Angus positioned himself on his side of the game table and began to move the handles to move the ball and to block goals. His arms fell short of the handles and he was on his toes while lifting his shoulders to reach better. Each goal he scored he cheered and raised his arms in the air. Once the game was over, Angus and his friend returned to the dining table where their food awaited.

As Angus sat in front of his meal, he said, “Wow what a big burger”. He placed both hands around the burger and with a wide mouth took a big bite. Angus stated that he needed water and stood up to find the glasses and water bottle at the bar counter; he came back a few seconds later and asked Michael if he wanted water too. When he returned to his seat, he poured a glass of water for himself holding the bottle with two hands and passed the bottle to his friend. He finished the burger and chips on the plate. Angus and his Michael then returned to the games room, where Angus began to chat to a 30 year old male, they exchanged hand gesture jokes, where Angus copied the man, and they laughed together.

Angus and Michael spent some time deciding on which board game or card game to play. He spoke and then listened to his friend, not making eye contact. They found the UNO card game and together decided to play. Angus was the dealer, while he shuffled the cards with both hands and handed out the equal number of cards to his friend as his while counting out loud. Angus concentrated on the game and took his time to decide on each move. There were times when he and his friend disagreed on how the game was proceeding, and he communicated this in a higher pitched voice.

When Angus lost the game, he shrugged his shoulders and seemed to become disinterested, he walked away to look for his mother, who was at the dining table. Angus stated that he was tired, as they had just returned from a holiday; he said ‘I want to go home because I have not been home all week”. We all stood up from the table and walked to the front outside the doors, Angus looked around as he walked through the crowd. As they left Angus walked beside his mother, leaving his friend to walk behind.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

My reflection of the observation of this child is that as children grow from childhood to middle childhood and almost into adolescence, there are considerable advances in self-awareness and logical thought processes (Berk, 2017). At preschool age, kids are self-centered and in many cases focuses not on similarity of situation or things but differences (Black et al., 2017). Kids in preschool age are also very selective, they only want what they prefer having (Boyd, & Bee, 2015). This was notable through how he interacted with his friend, the stranger he spoke to and through his trial and error when trying to work out the foosball game. It was interesting to watch an almost adolescent child in comparison to my first observation with a four year old child.

There were awareness and curiosity of his surroundings as I observed him looking around the room, in comparison to younger children, where they are less aware of their surroundings and others. Children’s reasoning becomes more logical, elastic and structured in the concrete operational stage (Piaget’s Theory) (Berk, 2018). I was able to observe this when he was ordering his meal, how he negotiated and worked out, with his friend, what was the best meal choice. The practical functional thought is developing through slowly mastering practical organizational activities. This was evident when he was attempting to place the coin in the foosball game. He walked around the table trying to find a way to make the game work, even after he placed the coin in the slot where it would not go in; he continued to try again, only asking for help as a last resort.

I also observed a child who was independent not only in his ability to choose his meal, but also one that was able to have a meal and decide how to obtain a drink when needed. As a mother of an eleven year old, it is wonderful to have these little people now becoming independent and only requiring your assistance when necessary. I can see that they are more autonomous, yet still need the parent in the background for safety. Angus chose to eat burger under his own volition without the influence of anyone. At eleven, autonomy of infants begins to develop and parents ought to facilitate the development process without suppressing ability of infants to self-express (Sattler, 1992)

Through this observation, I realized how peer groups, friendships and independence play an important role in the development of middle childhood, in preparation for adolescence, and how a healthy mix between independence and guidance can contribute to a physical, emotional, and cognitively confident child (Britto et al., 2017).

Although I observed a confident child, with some of the detail provided by the mother regarding the estranged father, I was left wondering how this may affect his sense of self and safety in his world. There are no obvious signs of distress and none reported by the mother, therefore, as a therapist, I have to wonder how or when life experiences in our childhood begin to play out in adulthood.

References

Berk L.E. (2018). Development through the lifespan. Seventh edition. Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc

Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring lifespan development. Pearson.

Black, M. M., Walker, S. P., Fernald, L. C., Andersen, C. T., DiGirolamo, A. M., Lu, C., ... & Devercelli, A. E. (2017). Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. The Lancet, 389(10064), 77-90.

Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2015). Lifespan development. Pearson Education Limited.

Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., ... & MacMillan, H. (2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), 91-102.

Pruitt, D. (2000). Your child: Emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development from birth through preadolescence. William Morrow Paperbacks.

Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of children: Revised and updated.