The Importance Of Listening To Our Children

Have you ever stopped to think about everything your child can teach you? Some people have the mistaken idea that adults “know everything” and that a child’s brain is only willing to receive information, not to provide it. That’s a mistake.

La Luna (The Moon) is a wonderful short film from Pixar that will teach us the value of listening to our children and understanding that every child is worth it and able to navigate a world of stars that is within their reach.

Do not hesitate to share this 5 minutes of animation with the little ones in the house. What fascinates us most from the very beginning of this short film are the eyes of the protagonist. His eyes are the shape and brightness of the moon, full of dreams, hopes and incredible things to teach his own family.

La Luna: a short film about a family with a very special task

We are convinced that you too, in your time as a mother or father, have never hesitated to guide your children to learn from everything around them, through your own experiences. You teach them to cross the street, respect nature, plant a seed and notice how the moon revolves around the earth, just like the earth revolves around the sun.

But, have you also considered everything your child can teach you? Some people have the mistaken idea that adults “know everything” and that a child’s brain is only willing to receive information, not to provide it. That’s a mistake.

The magic and plasticity of free thinking that is full of possibilities is something that children can give us every day. La Luna is an exceptional short film that shows us all these small details.

Learn the family tradition

This short film begins with a very special ritual. We meet the child’s family: his father and grandfather who take a quiet boat trip every day to a very specific place. On this occasion, the son accompanies them. Finally the time has come: he too has to learn the family tradition.

They even offer him an old sailor hat, as he is now part of the crew. He is part of that little expedition of brave men who every day perform an important task: rid the moon of all the stars that land on it at night.

Listening to our children: everything a child can teach us

At some point, Dad and Grandpa have a little problem doing this task. They find a star so big they don’t know how to remove it from the moon’s surface. Brooms, the tools that have been used from generation to generation, are now useless.

But our precious boy does not hesitate to climb that star. He is like The Little Prince exploring his own planet, concocting ideas and making plans in his mind. Thoughts that are free and full of possibilities, just like any child.

The grandfather and father don’t trust the little one to get them out of trouble. How can he do that? They are experts and have been performing this important task for decades. However, the child succeeds, much to the surprise of the two adults. How?

Children often use a way of thinking that sometimes escapes adults. It’s called lateral thinking. They see reality in a less rigid way. From perspectives so broad and creative that we can only surrender to the evidence.
Adults have experience, but we must not lose the magic of our inner child. It is able to sense reality from a broader perspective, full of possibilities.
Children have a lot to teach us. After all, they are a new generation and because childhood is not about a lack of skills, but a chest of opportunities that parents should take advantage of, by trusting and listening.