Titanic - normal for six year old?

[Ohgoonthenillhaveanother]

Hi all my son has recently decided he’s interested in the Titanic (historical event not the movie). He’s 6 and I wondered if this is a normal interest for his age? He’s not obsessive about it/will happily pick it up and put it down but he is quite interested in reading about it and making up games about it. Has anyone else had this with their child or anything similar? He is NT as far as I know. AIBU for thinking this is a bit odd or am I overthinking it? Anxious first time mum

My six year old is also very interested in the titanic currently (so much so that I took her to the museum in Belfast recently - which is brilliant). She’s also interested in history in general, and volcanos and earthquakes and lots of other things. She is NT as far as I’m aware. I find the interest in such a deadly disaster slightly uncomfortable but also very relatable - I was fascinated by Pompeii at a similar age.

My 4 year old son loves all things Titanic. And fascinated by all kinds of natural disasters.

NT 6 year old had an obsession with toilet paper manufacturing. Titanic seems perfectly reasonable. Other children in the family have gone through a range of more normal obsessions, The Deadly 60 phase was fun.

I voted YANBU to mean that your son is NBU in his interest

There is a huge Lego Titanic set that he might like.

It is completely normal. My son went through a Titanic phase at that age too. We even got him a model to build of it that he still has at age 22 🤣 Children fixate on things and then grow out of them. I think Titanic is actually a pretty common one as my nephew had a Titanic phase too.

There is a book series for kids called I Survived about disasters and the resilience of youth dedicated to these kid fascinations. It is historical fiction written from the perspective of a child experiencing the event. There is a Titanic book in the series he may like.

A bit odd that you had to watch the film when your DD was age 6, seeing as the film is rated 12. Probably for sexual content and scenes of people dying.

But my DS was also obsessed with the actual Titanic when he was about 7, we went to see the exhibition.

I think we all get a bit obsessed with Titanic, other disasters & destruction when we are little (regardless of whether we are NT or ND) is because we are starting to realise that the world isn't all magic & that Mummy & Daddy can't always save the day - so I think our fascination with stuff like Titanic etc is our child brain's way of making sense of living & dying but in a safe & healthy way.

DD1 went through a stage of playing disasters & funerals with her friends whilst at infant school (a few of her friends DM's had had miscarriages or siblings/parents/grandparents had died) so I think the kids were doing their own kind of play therapy to deal with these major episodes in their life.

DD1 has turned out completely fine btw.

This is actually quite common. There are some books about Titanic in school reading schemes at this age range and lots of schools cover

Perfectly fine and normal, he will learn a lot and then probably move onto another interest. I remember my child being fascinated by barges and canals at that age. We would go for walks along our local canal and watch the lock gates being opened and the barges travelling along. That then gave way to an interest in the planets and our solar system. I think it is great when kids are curious about things

I am still obsessed with Anne Boleyn!

At his age I had a HUGE interest in the Spanish Armada. We did a school project on it at school. My history passion began! Ended up studying Ancient History at uni (and now do an unrelated job but anyway!)

Why on earth would you think that's odd? IME, kids become obsessional about something at around that age. For my eldest, it was native birds of NZ. He could name them, describe their song, nesting habits, migration paths, and we had to pack up at a moment's notice to drive 100 km to view a white heron or a kokako in the wild. It's what kids do.

Ohh my son had a titanic obsession when he was 6 last year. We watched a few documentaries about it after he decided it was his thing. He is being assessed for autism. Not sure if that is relevant.

Finding certain topics fascinating is completely normal. I’d be more concerned if my kids didn’t have random interests and couldn’t think for themselves or be unique.

Nothing wrong with being autistic by the way. Many of the best people I know are.

It’s the Great Fire of London for mine, currently.

Unfortunately autistic people struggle in life

Forgotten that mine was obsessed with prisons at around age 7! what sort of food would you get in prison, how often could you have visitors, what were the beds like. We never knew anyone who had been to jail or who was about to be sentenced but I had a mate who was a criminal law solicitor so she could answer most of the questions. I guess they just hear and see stuff and their curious and developing minds naturally want to know more. As long as the information they get is age appropriate it is good that they are learning about real life

I can, but I am ND, as are my children. The biggest red flag is falling down Internet rabbit holes. My special interest is neurodivergence. I'll open any thread that mentions it. Just saying.

My son was utterly obsessed with the Titanic at that age. I was going to suggest the museum in Charlestown, but I just checked and it's permanently closed.

Yes totally normal! My DS discovered the Titanic when he was about 4 or 5. It developed through his love of Octonauts. We’ve done it all - lego titanic, light up model titanic (still pride of place in his room), multiple copies of books read over and over again, ship top trumps, sinking titanic birthday cake (homemade), titanic Christmas cards (made at school), titanic t shirts… you name it! The only thing we haven’t done is the museum in Belfast - which we really should do! Oh and the film. We’re considering letting him watch it but forwarding the sex scene.
He’s now 8 and still loves a shipwreck 😳
But seriously, it’s inspired a general love of history and has given him confidence in himself; he knows it’s a bit quirky and he’s had to learn to back himself up and be confident. If a small child is going to tell grown ups that he loves the Titanic, he needs to be prepared to answer lots of questions! He loves an episode of drain the ocean and has learnt so much about the history of ships and the ocean. As have I! 😆

Some do but my DH, DS, DD DSis, DDad and various friends are all leading lovely lives. Sometimes they have struggles but don't we all!

Ooooh I really want to know what books you have written now but I know you can’t ‘out’ yourself!
*am an AuDHD avid reader esp of your genres!

I think you left out ‘some’. I am autistic and until I developed Parkinson’s my life was pretty damned awesome! Extremely successful career, great friends, lovely child. In fact, some of the traits of my neurodivergence actively aided me in my work (lawyer).