The village may think I'm crazy / Or say that I drift too far / But once you know what you like, well / There you are
Everything's dynamic nowadays. There's no real reason to start "at the beginning" with a new blog any longer. Accordingly, I'll just . . . start.
Where and how, between homework and friends and art and yoga and swimming? Well, that's precisely the point. Ever met someone who couldn't find a happy place? Yeah, me, too. I've met those someones. I've been that someone. It sucks. I want to do better for my girls.
Happily, a happy place can be right under your nose. Dragon Girl, for example, likes to climb. Heaven help me, how she likes to climb. She likes curbs, rocks, retaining walls, and pretty much anything elevated. She'll be a natural for Parkour if I can ever bring myself to tell her it exists.
So, when she wants to explore an obstacle, I try to say "yes." It costs nothing but time, and very little of that, to make her truly happy for a whole morning.
It doesn't have to be free-range, either. Every Wednesday morning, we swipe a few minutes on the climbing wall at her sister's school, while the big kids are in assembly saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Disney's Moana
Everything's dynamic nowadays. There's no real reason to start "at the beginning" with a new blog any longer. Accordingly, I'll just . . . start.
Try This at Home:
Recognizing Happy Places
Where and how, between homework and friends and art and yoga and swimming? Well, that's precisely the point. Ever met someone who couldn't find a happy place? Yeah, me, too. I've met those someones. I've been that someone. It sucks. I want to do better for my girls.
Happily, a happy place can be right under your nose. Dragon Girl, for example, likes to climb. Heaven help me, how she likes to climb. She likes curbs, rocks, retaining walls, and pretty much anything elevated. She'll be a natural for Parkour if I can ever bring myself to tell her it exists.
So, when she wants to explore an obstacle, I try to say "yes." It costs nothing but time, and very little of that, to make her truly happy for a whole morning.
 |
| Look up "happy place" in the dictionary, and there's this. Time: 4 minutes. |
 |
| I know, I KNOW . . . but she's so happy. Time: 12 minutes. |
Try This at Home: Today's Takeaways
- Finding my child's happy place is a Good Thing.
- Enrichment can happen perfectly well outside of enrichment classes.
- On most days -- admittedly not all -- I can spare 3 minutes to let her walk on the curb. Because what will I really achieve by spending that extra 3 minutes in Wal-Mart?
- It's good for me, too, to see her smile.
As an added personal bonus, Dragon Girl's happy place requires Mama to Let Go. Because, fine, call me a helicopter, but it's very very very hard to watch my four-year-old freeclimb to twice her own height. Even though she's still pretty short.
No comments:
Post a Comment