I can't imagine the identity crisis Erikson experienced. He could easily have caved into himself and stayed there, but he became a successful practitioner and researcher - what a story. One of my children is adopted - we don't keep it a secret at all, but I do bear in mind that he may have identity issues as he gets older, specifically in adolescence. Erikson's theories interest me, especially in regard to my adopted child, because he had a rough start in life with multiple caregivers. I find it intriguing that each of Erikson's stages range such extremes, but that the extremes need to be reconciled or balanced somehow in each child. I have little doubt that his personal experiences forced him to experience extremes himself. In an identity crisis, one usually does.

I love this quote by Erikson. "Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of an accomplishment to the triumph of a hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom." It's definitely something I need to keep in mind when I am losing patience. One of the third graders at a school I was shadowing at, was acting out throughout the lesson and the teacher respectfully asked her to sit, listen, etc. After the lesson I asked the teacher about the student who seemed to be quite a handful. The teacher replied that when she first met the student the child woldn't stop swearing and hitting and now her worst problem was not being able to sit still. She came from a really tough family life (I'm not actually sure family is the right word for it..) and was obviously acting out because of it. This teacher remembered that although the actions were inappropriate, the child was just doing them because it was the only way she knew how to get attention. Erikson would have had a field day working with her.