The global village tends no fire around which the children can gather. Its sophisticated arrogance is politely to sneer at domesticity as a lovely ideal, but ultimately a naive and inevitably temporary undertaking. It announces to anyone seeking to grow roots, that home is to be found everywhere, making sure that it is nowhere to […]
stillness
Respect trumps understanding
I just spent twenty minutes in the car with a sullen son on the way to school. We didn’t speak a single word the whole ride there, until we said goodbye with a long hug. I had no idea why he was mad–maybe something to do with his mom and shoes that were too warm. […]
Let your child teach you how to move
Why did I tell my youngest boy to sit still at dinner? What possible reason would make sense here? “You can hurt yourself if you fall backwards.” “Your body needs to be calm while eating.” “You’re distracting others from their food.” Yes, sure, possibly, perhaps, maybe. More likely it’s because as a child I myself […]
Everything in nature needs rest
Everything rests if we don’t mess with it. Deer rest under trees, digesting their food. In late summer the blue tits hang out on branches just swaying with the wind, watching the clouds go by. Our cat does nothing but rest–he’s merged with the sofa cushions. Yet so many of us have scheduled rest right […]
Sometimes your child needs you to be quiet
We’re taught to communicate through words: to speak our minds, to articulate, enounce, voice our feelings. But no matter how good our intentions, all those words can be overwhelming and confusing. Sometimes our child needs us to be quiet. If she’s afraid, in pain, angry, she’s not open to verbosity. She can’t even hear a […]
Nothing is good for a child’s growth
Every child needs a healthy dose of nothing to do. Nothing germinates their imagination, cultivates their delight, develops their relationship to self. Nothing gifts them with the discovery that their selves hold an infinity of world’s within worlds. Nothing teaches them something about life that nothing else can do. Too much to do, too many […]