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Hi all -
Jane from MD here peaking in......

I loved Deb's description of the wonderful people 'in the neighborhood, in
the neighborhood, in the neigh - bor - hood...." (oops! sorry!) It spoke
to me as a reminder to be more present where you are. I may not take my kids
in the antique book store or the pottery studio but we can surely be
available to any curiosity or interest that shows up wherever we are! What i
mean is that I don't have to PLAN special trips - special people, events,
surprises are present EVERYWHERE.....just take the time to notice and
cherish.....

Another thought that I'd like to through out is this: it occured to me to
take a time (a fall season) and teach my kids NOTHING....NO 'educational
experiences'....no classes.....no fieldtrips for the sake of learning...no
planning playdates for 2 weeks from Thursday.....nothing....simply 'planning'
for today (or maybe making arrangements for tmrw......What would happen?
I did this as an experiment to wean myself of overplanning.....it was hard
but I told myself that it would not matter in a couple years of we learned
"nothing" for 3 months!........wow! What a great time! Anywhere we went was
because one of us brought up the idea bec. of a specific
interest....otherwise, we stayed home a lot....but then we were REALLY glad
to be wherever we were....we read the books we wanted (not bec. of any of my
ulterior motives!).....we went all over, too....I'm sure if I went back to my
calendar and saw what we did I could attach a lot of 'educational terms' to
the activities....however, the intent was to let these moments unfold....to
be open and trust that 'beautiful stuff happens'.....

Sometimes one of them would say something like, "I like learning about
horses...." Wow! What a test bec. my teacher mind would immediately go to
"we can go to a horse farm! there are horse rescue farms nearby! So and so
has horses! we can go to a vet! lets get books from the library! Grandma
loves horses, we could get together with her and go riding!....ideas ! ideas!
ideas!" After doing that numerous times with their interests, I noticed
that they didn't usually have that overwhelming enthusiasm that I did for
wanting to show them something! I've learned, with my kids, anyway, to ask
more questions like...."oh, what would you like to do/learn?" Sometimes they
ask, 'can we visit a horse'? Sometimes, they are happy just to wonder about
something and not necessarily want the answer! sigh, the freedom in that!
We DON'T have to want/need the answers!

One time the kids were looking at an insect and I enthusiastically said,
"let's get the encyclopedia out and see what it is and learn about it!" my
wise daughter said, "MOM, we want to learn about it by watching it...."
sigh....she was 5 at the time....I have so much to learn!

So, there is MY ramble! I want to simply suggest that we as parents really
could do NOTHING educational......just go about our days, being home, doing
errands, going to where you are inspired to go.......and being PRESENT for
the curiosities and people that present themselves.....and then being patient
to let it all run its course....

HOpe that makes sense....Thanks, Deb, for the post that inspired me! I'll
think more about this today!

Have a good one!
Jane


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