Today the littles spent a bit of this cold afternoon watching videos about life in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. We found these cool, very age appropriate videos that show everyday life in each of these countries. They loved seeing that these children in other countries were just as fascinated with Legos as they are.
To wrap up our school day, I asked each of them to write a story that had to do with something they had learned. Our Princess got all excited and proudly read hers, complete with prompting her brother Cooter to “drumroll please” at different points in the story. She is getting more comfortable with writing her stories, and that absolutely tickles my fancy.
Cooter, on the other hand, is working on finding his voice. His story was much shorter, and after he read it (and spent more time explaining the back story than actually reading what he had written), I looked it over and found three words he had misspelled. Whether it was the best thing to do or not, I asked him to write the words a few times each to get to know each one and hopefully learn the correct spelling.
He was less than thrilled.
He put off the task, first practicing the piano (we started lessons yesterday–so exciting!) and then building with Legos and talking with his Daddy when he got home. I let him do all of this, having told him no electronics until the rewriting the words was done.
Our Princess, who had done all of her assignments, came and got the device she plays on, I punched in the password, and she was off building and creating on that game they love.
Cooter was not happy. He whined. He wasn’t feeling good. He was miserable. Life is hard. And so on.
Poor guy. Ahem.
After sitting in the other room watching his sister play and build for a bit, he came running back in the room where I was. He grabbed up his paper and said, “She told me how to do this!”
“Really?” I asked, as he headed, pencil in hand, back to where his sister was.
“Yes! Start with one.”
Start with one.
Well. How about that?
Princess does know about this firsthand. She committed a kindness violation the other day and had to write sentences as part of a contract that she would think before she did that again. Twenty-five to be exact. I don’t remember hearing her complain.
I guess it’s because she started with one.
Tonight I’m thankful for the reminder from my littles that when life is overwhelming and seems too much to handle, it’s okay. Just start with one.
And then another one.
And eventually, we will get done what needs to be done.
The excitement and joy and pride on my little guy’s face when he finished was precious. I don’t know that he will remember that feeling the next time he has an overwhelming assignment in front of him, but here’s hoping.
Here’s hoping we all remember to breathe.
And start with one.
Love to all.
I Might Need A Nap 