Yulya Pavlova

Seek And Hide | When I began to work on this project my aim was to show famous stereotypes in the raising of children. I asked my son to help me with visualization. I’ve made pictures about such statements as «Boys don’t cry», «Boys must be strong», «Children must grow in greenhouse conditions», «A child is the main person in the family», «Child has to have tough borders» and etc...

But suddenly my son refused to be photographed. He said that it is not interesting to him and became angry. I noticed some «signs» that he showed me, such as the angry or sad face or he could run away from me. What's the matter with him? I tried to understand.

After that, my son began to hide from me. It was a kind of game and I joined him.
I realized that the game is the best way to understand and to communicate with my son. I asked him what he likes and what he wants to do. I decided to orient not to social attitudes but to my son.
In the beginning, the result was important for me but I didn’t care about the answer if he liked it or not. Seeing signs of refused I changed our interaction.
My son painted for me, dressed his favorite lizard mask, built a house on the tree and showed me his collection of insects. The game is the main instrument in interaction and in the raising of children. It is not about how to be a perfect mom or how to raise a perfect child. But it is about how to hear and help your children to grow up.