Posted in Parenting on Feb 25, 2010 - 11:23 AM
As the wheel stops, my four-year-old quickly counts the cherries and announces, "Three!"She adds three cherries to her tree from her bucket and then, with a sly glance at me from the corner of her eye, adds two more.
"Hmmm... Is that three?" I ask.
"No!" she laughs and puts two of the cherries back.
I'm seeing more and more of this testing-me behavior every day. She likes to know her limits and she's all about discovering loopholes. She's learning about fairness, sharing, kindness, and ethics--as well as counting and colors, not to mention developing those fine motor skills even further--all with a game of Hi Hi Cherry-O!
Recently I sent in my six-word memoir for a project our local library is doing. After playing around with several ideas, I came up with "Stardust on rags, wonder in rucks."
Anyone who knows me knows that "stardust" is a nod to my favorite author, Neil Gaiman; but it's also symbolic. Yes, we use rags to clean up the house after so many creative (and not-so-creative!) messes, but we have to remember that when we dust, not only does that dust contain our dead skin cells, fibers from our belongings and other life tidbits; it also has actual dust from the stars.
Think about that the next time you clean house--it makes for a much more rewarding, if not contemplative, experience!
Regarding the second half of my memoir--our memoir, really--is the state of wonder in our everyday lives. We don't have to make a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela or see the Great Barrier Reef in person to experience wonder; we can find it in the rucks, the everyday nooks and crannies of who and where we are.
Can we really experience magic in a preschool board game--or, for that matter, clumps of play-dough turned into spaghetti noodles, colorful magnets on the dryer, or cut-up strips of yarn (my daughter's current favorite activity)? Could learning, growth, and development really take place in the everyday rucks?
Absolutely. In fact, I believe that's where most of it happens.
Tags for this entry:
parent involvement,
games,
early childhood,
childhood,
lifelong learning,
character education
comments
Thanks Melia! And the stardust thing does wonders when you’re dusting and sweeping (and cursing…!).
I love the idea of “h” as a chair! Those kinds of observations make my day. We really take so many things for granted sometimes…
Have you seen Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium? It’s one of our favorite movies and in it, Natalie Portman’s character tells Jason Bateman, “You’re a just guy. You see a bench and you say, it’s just a bench. You see a tree and you say, it’s just a tree. This store is more than just a store.” Or something to that effect! Kids never seem to see things as “just” what adults often see them as—they see them as something more. 
on Feb 26, 2010 - 12:55 AM
Love your six-word memoir. What a great idea. I love that you see the wonder and magic in everyday things and teach your daughter to do the same.
Next time I’m dusting, I’ll remember to marvel that it’s stardust I’m wiping away. It’s wonderful to step back in the midst of everyday activities and appreciate the beauty of them.
Returning to beginner’s mind is one of the blessings of working with children. One time I was working with a group of kindergarteners on the alphabet and seeing which letters they already knew. When I pointed to an “S,” one said, “Snake!” and when I pointed to lowercase “h,” another said, “Chair!”
I hadn’t ever realized that a lowercase “h” does look like a chair, and the whole process gave me a glimpse back to the time when I didn’t know what all those squiggly lines represented. The kids were able to interpret their meanings imaginatively, instead of giving the “right” answer.
on Feb 25, 2010 - 02:44 PM