I remember studying Freud as an undergrad psych major and being thouroughly disgusted. What sick man believes that psychopatholgy stems from incestous sexual desires? Unfortunately the more I work in the mental health field the more I begin to believe that Freud was on to something... (Quick disclaimer to feminist friends, I also believe that Freud was a product of an era which, at best, devalued women and their emotional/physical/sexual needs.)

I am now officially releasing Freud from that section in my mind labeled "looney." Yes folks that's a clinical term. Why is such drastic action being taken? Well I am now a firm believer of the Electra Complex.

A little background...Freud believed that all young boys fall in love with their mothers and therefore, want to kill their fathers, the "oedipus complex" named after Oedipus Rex. It is then that our young boys begin to worry that their plan will enrage their fathers (you think?), who will then castrate them. To Freud, and many males, this is a punishment worse than death. So the young boys, in a desperate attempt to save their penises, abandon their mother-stealing, and resort to becoming exactly like their fathers. In later years, when Freud was forced to examine women (AKA "degenerates"), he developed a similar conflict between young girls and their fathers, eventually called "the electra complex," named after Agememnon's daughter Electra. This results when a daughter wants her mother out of the picture, because she wants her father all to herself. Freud couldn't resist adding "penis envy" to the picture, but I refuse to spend any more time on that topic.

What does this all mean to me? Lately I've been home more, spending more time with both Micaela and Caleb. In the past few days I've noticed some changes in our household...
1. Micaela begins every sentence with "dada..." and now refuses to say mama
2. When we leave the house, and Caleb is at work, Micaela will call up the stairs "bye dada" even though he isn't there
3. In the morning when she's in our room and we're laying in bed, she wants to lay by him and preferably between us
4. She gets mad when I hug/kiss him and immediately runs over and wants to be held by him

I have a few friends with older children who all remember a brief period of time when their young daughters showed a particular liking towards their father, and a somwhat jealous reaction towards their mother. While I'm positive Freud isn't completely right, I must admit that there does exist a mild version of the electra complex. Lately I've resorted to calling Micaela "electra."

Labels: psycho babble