Attention to Detail

Over the weekend, I got the feeding duty of my 5-year old and this time around, I picked up some picture story books to read to him while feeding him. It worked. He ate his dinner in 30 minutes (against his usual 120 minutes of harassing his mother/father). But he surprised me all through the 30 minutes ... practically on every page of the different books we went thro. 

Typical picture based story books - full page pictures with 2-3 sentences on each page. The text and picture in sync with the picture depicting whats written above OR the text depicting whats in the picture (You might want to debate this just like the chicken and egg situation PLUS this is important) 

As I began reading and switched to page 2 ... kiddo stopped me and asked where is the character described on the page. I pointed to the picture to which he shook his head in negative. he pointed out that the character is wearing a red T shirt (as per the text that i had just read out) while the picture on the page showed someone in blue T shirt. ONLY then did I notice the descripency. I had completely missed this 'minor / inconsequential' detail. I told him the artist made the mistake or he was not informed about the color of the shirt by the story teller. 

We cross page 2 and once again I am stopped. This time it was the footwear. Story text said shoes and the person in the picture was wearing chappals/sandals. Once again, I hadnt noticed. I told kiddo he was just about to change from home chappals to outgoing shoes. We move on. 

And so on we go for another few pages. he continues to beat me at this ... absolutely every page, he is pointing out mistakes and I only see them after he points it out. I am irritated at the book, its author-artist duo, its proof reader and myself (for not spotting inspite of looking) 

And then I come on the page where I see the difference in the pictures on two consecutive pages. Two characters speaking but the entire room behind them had changed. I caught that mistake. Kiddo also caught it and mentioned it. He went and described it all in great detail - the wall, the floor, the door behind, the shape of the window and all. And then he dropped the bombshell. He asked, 'Papa, were they talking all night' !! 

The conversation was happening in the evening at a birthday party so i was quite taken aback on the over-night line of thought. I naturally asked why did he think so and he pointed to the windows. In the first window, it was dark outside, while the other window had the sun outside. Woah !!  

My Takeaways ... 

1. Kiddo has a very sharp eye and his attention to detail is pretty much extra-ordinary. 

2. As an adult, I (or let me generalise here to 'we adults') take things for granted and do not really pay attention. I read the text and looked at the pictures and failed to notice the disconnect. It was staring right into my face and I just assumed that the text and visual would be in sync. 

3. Kiddo not only observed but also deriving conclusions and setting the scene in his head (the night and day example - rather than treating it as a mistake, he concluded that the friends talked all night). Sharp brains at work. On the flip side, we adults more often than not take things at face value and dont think things through (most of the times) unless we are either asked to do it or we have a compelling reason to do so. 

4. In my next job/consulting interview, I can not really say "Attention to Detail" as one of my strengths :) 

As we grow (older?), are we intentionally (or otherwise) shying away from active mental activity. Are we doing the minimum possible to get through and not thinking through. 

What has been your personal experience ? For people around you - kids, colleagues, friends - and about yourself ?? 

Is 'Attention to Detail' automatic for you or does it come from conscious effort ? 

Is it natural or a forced activity ? Is it a way of life or an 'add-on' 'as and when required' ?? 

Think about it ... and do share your thoughts/experience/observation about it. 

#LifeObservations #TakenForGranted #AttentionToDetail #Life #Kids #Adulting #MentalCapacity #StoryTelling #BounceBack #LifeCoaching #SelfDevelopment #Learning&Development