Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Aha!

I'm trying to get the kids into a tumbling camp this summer (1 hour for 4 days). There is a 5 and up class I'd like them both to go to. I wrote this to the instructor and had some "Aha" moments as I described why it would be good for them to be together even though M is only 4.

"I think nobody would know she's not 5 if that was going to bother someone because she
is so tall and able to follow instructions. Also, G seems to do better when she's there
because he can hear some but he knows she can hear and can look to her to know what
to do. I never realized that until yesterday when we went to a program at the library. They
were so cute and the both followed along with the dancing just fine. G looks at her both
to fill in the gaps but also as a big brother to make sure she's on track. Man I love those kids!"

Also I was writing with my new sister in law about watching movies and came up with this argument for why they should be careful about what they show their son.

" You can't choose what he sees outside of your home, but you can choose what he is shown in your home and what he sees to be acceptable because you laughed, or paid for it."

This reasoning keeps us from going to a lot of activities we think the kids might enjoy but that we don't want to give our full stamp of "this is so good for you we paid for it." Like Monster Jam, or the rodeo or Barbie on ice.

Why did "sheltered" become a criticism of parents? I think that is my job.

1 comment:

Okishdu said...

Yes, 'sheltering' is your job. Kids learn a lot from the contrast between what is done at home and what they see in other places. Saying that kids will be exposed anyway is just a cop out.