It’s that time of year MLK Day and pre Black History Month when schools begin to tell the same tales of blackness and comfortably watered down liberation. My daughter comes home from kindergarten talking about Rosa Parks, segregation (Jim Crow) and “Don Luther King” who is actually Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. We begin the conversation with her narrating all the things that she learned in class. “How she couldn’t believe it; How it was sooooo long ago; How she was shocked that people wouldn’t share a space with someone else of a different color skin”. I let her epiphanies flow through her and fill the minivan until finally I intervened:
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Sometimes going to the doctor or dentist can be a bit unnerving. We often do a pep talk before going so that things work out well. After this visit we reviewed and discussed what happened at the visit, what we observed about the visit and what we think will help us for next time.
This is what we learned this time:
Check out our "pre-visit"/pep-talk tips here: http://www.momofallcapes.com/3/post/2013/10/scheduled-maintenance.html Stay Healthy & Happy Brushing! I was wondering if anyone else's child has coveted piles of intricately, curated objects. Wonderfully these "found things" make their way into my trash without my middle child knowing. I find them in corners, in pockets (or the washer), in boxes, in cups, in bags, under the bed... she litters our home with small treasure piles (please refer to the list below). I acknowledge that she is finding the beauty in the mundane, and at one point I felt guilty discarding or recycling some of these items I happen upon. In a neurotic fit she will cry for five minutes when she knows her treasure trove has been raided, but she quickly gets right back at it again. I think there is a small lesson in all of this collecting of data and holding on to small moments and memories: 1. Maybe if we all take a second and look at the very small things we will appreciate their beauty. Each one of these items has a back story; has some sort of history or adventure attached to it. Maybe when she handles them and examines them (as I sometimes catch her doing), she is thinking about how this object came to miss this part or be disfigured in this way. 2. Maybe each one of us is like those collected and relatively damaged items that my daughter brings together. Each of us is at some point emotionally, physically or psychologically broken. But maybe our creator puts us in gobs (families, friendships, communities) to enhance our beauty and create a wonderful and temporary treasure. I have no clue what she is thinking about when she makes the piles. I still throw them away, but I do know that now I take a second to examine these "broken things" before I pitch them. They deserve that much. Here are just a few things I've found around the house:
My 5 year old and I were riding around buying gifts for a birthday party for one of her classmates when Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know”, my current anthem, comes on the radio. Here is the amazing video: http://youtu.be/8UVNT4wvIGY. We are riding around singing the song when it begins to fade out and she breaks our choral rejoicing with a very interesting point...
5yo: Mom, you know, if your heart freezes you die. Your blood can’t circulate around your body. Me: Yes. If your blood freezes so does your body... Wait, are you talking about the song? |
I'm a former teacher and former college athlete, currently working to make life more equitable for all people. My mission is to get parents to partner with their child's teacher.
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