Possibly my best idea ever
I struck a deal with the kids: for every new app or game I buy them, they must each memorize a poem. So far, so fabulous. Huck, my little iPad junkie, is shaping up to be a regular minstrel by the time he’s twenty. 🙂
Posts Tagged ‘Parenting’
Ask Me Why
June 19, 2013 @ 5:35 am | Filed under: GeekMom posts
Over at GeekMom today, I’m thinking about a small child’s most beloved word:
Why is a chameleon-word that shapeshifts into all the questions put together. Who, how, when, what, where, will. Why is the wonder-word. It collects the flurry of bewildering input that swirls around a small child like leaves in a tornado—and in a single syllable, it tames the wind. It puts form to the formless: When other words are leaping all over the place with their jittery meanings (leaves fall in the fall but snow doesn’t winter in the winter), why stays put. Why is reliable. When grownups all around you are failing to comprehend the very clear statement you’re making about eating opiemeal in the hoffabul, why is a word they understand. Sometimes it’s the only word they seem to understand, so you use it in place of all the other words they can’t quite grasp…
GeekMom Counterpoint: Why I Love Why.
Comments are off
Links for May 13, 2008
May 13, 2008 @ 8:00 am | Filed under: Links
- Isn’t it Time We Made the World Fair? | The Family-Centered Life – Michele Quigley on Fair Trade.
- Busy just before it gets busier « Handmade Homeschool – I love, love, love her needlework.
- Karen Edmisten: Catching up with Krampf – The experiment emails just started showing up in my in-box, too. I wondered what was up. Thanks for directing me to all the cool stuff at his site, Karen. Love this guy!!
- Herding Turtles On The Trail: Happy Mother’s Day – "Those sticky kisses don't last forever," writes Sarah. "Enjoy each one!" Lovely post
- A Cup of Tea with Me: Mother’s Day Morning – Laura's beautiful tribute to motherhood
- Frog And Toad Are Still Friends: Oh, Wah Wah Wah – Beck scores a slam dunk with this blistering critique of a study that "proves" parents are less happy than other folks.
Incoming
Thoughtful and thought-provoking conversation continues in the comments of the patience post. There are two main strands of discussion: one focuses on parenting style, and the other on educational philosophy. Of course, those two topics are completely intertwined—not just in the comments, but in life.
I’m seeing a lot of incoming links to that post, and I wanted to direction your attention toward some of them. Willa’s reflection upon patience vs. acedia is a powerful read: “Is it possible that every morning God says, ‘Do it again!’ to the sun?” An excerpt:
I think the “bad kind of patience” that Melissa discussed relates a bit to acedia, or at least it does for me. Too often, I “serve my time” and endure what ought to be a delight. Thereby I lose the privilege of drawing closer to what I am intended to be. Thereby I close myself into a little box, limiting myself to finding delight in what I naturally have a preference for. Doctor’s offices are one thing, but when I am bored and restless spending time with my little ones, or impatient about having to deal with the 100th quarrel or need in a day, that is something else. Like Melissa, I should know better than to take these joys as a given. If Aidan taught me nothing else, I should have learned that these very repetitions are privileges of the greatest magnitude.
JoVE shares her thoughts on children and housework. Amy has some specific questions about dealing with the daily challenges of parenting; she also ponders, movingly, how “seeing beauty in every face” means looking for it in her own face, too.
I was going to reflect upon these and other incoming links, but my rugrats have awakened and there are bouncy balls whizzing past my head in every direction. Rose is comparing the bounce and arc of balls made of different substances. (In my experience, “child” outbounces them all.)