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-=-(can you tell i'm writing this at 2am?)-=-

No. I could hardly tell that I wasn't writing it myself!

Ditto all of the below. Kirby had the most childlike childhood, all Sesame
Street and sorting blocks and quiet slow walks with mom. Marty had the
fallout of Kirby's older activities. Holly, #3, had to move the Ninja Turtles to
learn to crawl. <g> (More below the matching summary review:)


> -=-I remember when my first child was little and our house really was very
> peaceful and quiet a lot of the time.  But the thought of trying to keep him
> at that stage instead of joyfully following him into his various other
> stages with all the noisy messy wonderfulness would be really sad.  It's
> great,though, to live in that place with him while he's there.  The house
> was a much "livelier" environment by the time #3 came along.  But her sweet
> peaceful stage purred along just beneath the din.  Her noisy stage was even
> louder than the others' because the point of it is to be heard.  She had to
> be heard over all of our busy lives -and she was : )   FWIW, it's the
> oldest, who had that quiet toddler hood , who is biggest into video games
> and such now.  The little one (now 5) doesn't watch near as much TV though
> she's welcome to it.  
>
> -=-(can you tell i'm writing this at 2am?)-=-
>
They've all managed to find LOTS of peace and quiet and privacy, and plenty
of noise and activity and interaction.

"Teaching" a child peace through and in the absence of any options isn't anyt
hing at all. How will he respond in a crisis? What will he do if he's
visiting elsewhere and everyday-lack-of-peace arises?

Serenity is no great trick in a padded, muffled world. If someone can
create, maintain and experience peace in normal circumstances, THAT is really
useful. One of the most soothing, calming men I ever knew became a police
officer. And one of his best tricks, I hear, is walking up where people are
arguing, and just BEING peaceful so that they're sucked into his peacefulness.
I've seen other men do that too. It's a gift.

Sandra




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