Astrology and Childhood (1999)

I’m going to do something a bit cheeky here: I’m going to quote the whole chapter from the book.

Your Aquarian baby may have given [you] trouble before he was born, but now he has arrived you simply won’t know how to handle him!

Aquarius is a Fixed Air sign, pointing towards inventiveness and communication. Always mentally alert, these junior Aquarians like to approach everything with such honesty and directness that at times it could strike absolute terror into your heart. Of all the signs of the zodiac, Aquarius is the one that conforms the least.

Discipline will be difficult to apply, for these youngsters can be disarmingly charming and eccentrically wayward. Highly inventive, although usually truthful, the Aquarian requires strong guidance in order to learn organisation and real common sense. You will need the patience of a saint to keep him out of trouble.

Aquarians are non-conformist at any age. Endearing individualists, they dislike routine and will investigate anything and everything right from the word go. On Monday he will play with his bricks; on Tuesday he may help with the housework while Wednesday will be given over to trying something new for himself. But heaven help you if you cannot find the bricks again on Thursday. And you won’t like Fridays, either.

A comfortable, preferably modern environment that allows as much freedom as possible is ideal for the young Aquarian. If he can have plenty of places to explore as well, so much the better. You will need to be very careful, though: even when only a toddler and still in his play-pen, this young chap is a born escape artist. A secure harness and reins are essential when out walking, otherwise he will be off the moment your back is turned.

Young Aquarians are easy to cater for as they will probably try almost any type of food, but if yours takes a dislike to one particular item, nothing will induce him to try even a mouthful. It is possible that he will take in a lot of liquids and prefers to snack rather than sit down to formal meals. It may, therefore, take a long time to train him into acceptable meal-time routines.

Aquarian boys become a law unto themselves at a very early age. If they secretly wish for well-ordered lives, they rarely seem to enjoy one. The girls are not greatly different, but have a happy knack of finding a suitably satisfying occupation when they become adults.

In the very early days, you will have your work cut out trying to understand from his cries for attention precisely what it is that your new baby wants. Unfortunately, there is no set answer. In the initials stages at least, you may be sure that he is demanding the usual services — but that is where it ends.

The Aquarian child is perverse, difficult and awkward to try to understand at any age. He gets bored very easily and needs a lot to keep his fertile little mind fully occupied. You will find that hanging plenty of small mobiles — preferably colourful and noisy — around his cot help to distract him at they move about, but swop them around or substitute others quite frequently. All Air sign children have an insatiable streak of curiosity so your choice of toys should reflect this.

The Aquarian child has a great need for constant change to keep his little mind from stagnating. He enjoys attention and will demand it from anyone prepared to give it. As a baby, he delights in just being near to someone, but it won’t last. While he succumbs to the restriction of a cuddle, he does not really enjoy it.

The Aquarian child needs more sleep than others. If woken before he has had enough, he may well have a nap or two later on. This is good since the longer he is awake, the more temperamental he becomes. Although he will enjoy a cat-nap, he does not like to miss anything.

Physical progress may well go in fits and starts. Often, a baby Aquarian will suddenly sit up as if he has been doing it all his short life. Overnight, it seems, he will master holding his toys and other objects with ease. Then, one day he just stands up and begins to walk and move around in much the same manner. Soon after he starts to walk and talk, he will select a favourite corner and play there quietly for long periods of time, totally absorbed with what interests him. Such behaviour in a toddler may be unsettling, but you will get used to it.

Some children like to be on their own, will play alone for hours and not seem to worry if others are about or not. It is typical of the Aquarian child, who is likely to carry on as if he were still alone even if another child is in his play-pen with him. He is not being awkward, but simply so totally absorbed with what he is doing that the rest of the world must carry on without him.

Your Aquarian child will learn to talk early — generally sooner than most — and start to acquire a wide vocabulary to make himself understood. He has a searching mind and will ask many questions on all sorts of subjects. Give him proper answers with full explanations and encourage him at all times.

Aquarian children are not really receptive to discipline at the best of times and throw a wobbly when something frustrates them. They resist anything that smacks of injustice.

These youngsters can display a rebellious streak that has to be seen to be believed. They are stubborn, perverse and awkward, but also practical. If you appeal to their logic, you may find yourself negotiating terms for their punishment. Should you insist on curtailing their freedom, you had better mean what you say, for this really hurts. If possible, he will try to talk you out of it — and can be very persuasive!

The Aquarian cherishes home comforts: he likes to feel safe and secure. He does not resent your use of safety gates or other ways of penning him in. If you leave one open by mistake, there is little to worry about: he may or may not go through it as the mood takes him. Take time to explain the dangers and he will understand. But be warned: should young Aquarius feel so inclined, he will scale anything to get what he wants. By the time he is about two years old, he will have been all over the house and picked up a few scars on the way. He is not accident-prone as such, but he has his moments.

Normally, his health is likely to be generally all right. Aquarians are in quite good shape, but tend to suffer from circulatory problems, so hardening of the veins and arteries is possible. Your child may also have a weak bone structure and suffer fractures through sheer carelessness.

Be careful with his diet. He can be very fussy and could for no apparent reason give up meat one week and dairy products the next. However, as a rule, light foods, salads and fresh fruit are always welcome. If he should decide he is off a particular sort of food, sneak in a vitamin supplement to balance his diet — he will not usually be clever enough to notice!

As he grows older, your Aquarian offspring has to learn to socialise with others, but this is an easy matter for any Air sign child. Of course, he has to learn to share, give and take, and allow others to play with his possessions, but it is unlikely to be a problem to him. He is not possessive, provided he does not want a particular item: anyone else can have it or use it. But when he desires something, you may be sure he will get it!

The Aquarian child is naturally sociable, but can be a little fixed in his views. He will welcome new faces into his circle of acquaintances, but like other Air signs his long-term acceptance of a friend depends very much on the first few minutes of their meeting. If things go wrong at that time, the association may never get off the ground. And once he has decided on an opinion or a course of action, the Aquarian rarely changes his mind.

Compatibility obviously starts in the home environment at a very early age. Here, perhaps more than anywhere, children are either taught or soon discover for themselves the delicate art of getting along with others. In many cases, this means learning to negotiate. A young Aquarian is open and friendly, but likes to give others the benefit of his often original and rather intriguing ideas. If other children do not always understand, they may well choose to leave him alone. However, if they do accept him, they quickly recognise that he has useful leadership qualities.

When needed, he may well become their spokesman. An Aquarian will thrive on this, for he knows how to negotiate. In the long run, this favours him. Of course, many factors have to be taken into account. One very important aspect is the position of the child in the family. When there is a brother or sister, the Aquarian child simply either accepts them or not. He can work or play with them as he wants.

As a younger sibling, little Aquarians are perfectly happy for as long as everything is shared equally. If not, they switch off and go and do their own thing. They will accept a properly balanced share of the bedroom, but would settle for the box-room instead. These early domestic circumstances will always have a bearing on the way a child learns to adapt. The attitudes and general bahviour patterns that he starts to develop now will eventually be carried forward into adult life, moderated slightly here and there as he matures.

The single Aquarian child always seems to be self-confident and can bluff with the best of them. When younger brothers or sisters come along, he will show you how easy it is to manoeuvre to get what he wants. As a second child, the Aquarian has slightly less confidence, but makes up for this with a little more aggression. This comes to the fore when he has to outshine his fellow siblings to prove himself. Here, he will often resort to bluff to gain his own way, a built-in second nature.

If allowed, the second child soon finds his niche, but of the sexes, Aquarian girls are far more positive and settle better as a second sibling. As the third child, our Aquarian youngster enjoys the challenge. He always has a few tricks up his sleeve and copes quite well with any rivalry with brothers and sisters as long as he is treated equally at all times. All ‘number three’ children have to work hard to make their mark on the world, but the Aquarian child is equal to it.

When he puts his mind to it, he can achieve anything he wants. He is reasonably adaptable and soon learns how to deal with his peers. Once he starts school, you should make his teachers aware of the way his mind works so they can then use their skills to hone his. With this kind of co-operation, he will become a good pupil and get along well with both teachers and peers. Much of this depends on whether the child is an introvert or an extrovert. Aquarians belong to neither group in the real sense.

They are open and friendly, but can be cranky if pushed too far. Aquarians select friends carefully and are quite self-sufficient until involved in an emotional relationship. Then their loyalties can become quite strained.

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