Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Flexible Affiliations


Parent Bloggers Network
- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas+
(Random Site)
A Member of Bust's Girl Wide Web
Parenting Blogs - Blog Top Sites
blog search directory
Search For Blogs, Submit Blogs, The Ultimate Blog Directory

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Magic

This is a post written by my Blog Exchange partner for this month, Kim, from In Full Bloom. The assignment this month was to share your favorite post from your blog archives. This piece was originally posted on June 12, 2006. You can find me over at her place sharing my all time favorite post.

If you would like to see the favorites of others, or are interested in participating in the blog exchange, then click here.

Someone once said that a teacher’s favorite months are June, July and August. I won’t lie, they are certainly a welcome respite for a first grade teacher after a school year filled with all the hard work that goes into trying to make learning fun and meaningful for six year olds.

As much as I love what I do, I was relishing the thought of having time just for myself and for my family within reach, which is a very rare occurrence between the months of September and May. Like the duties of a mother, a teacher’s job is never done, even once June rolls around. And as I tried to clean up the classroom I know as my second home, I wondered how I would ever finish all the items on the checklist buried somewhere beneath the plan book, number two pencils, and faculty meeting minutes littering my desk.

As if the mere list were not enough, I also had the added obstacle of two young children bright with the excitement of a summer full of possibilities who had absolutely no interest or desire to spend any more time at school when the sun’s warm rays beckoned them to be outdoors. Unfortunately they have been born to a workaholic teacher for a mom who lives by the “work before play” philosophy. A veritable curse to say the least.

Being four and ten, they are too young to stay home alone and had come to school with me to “help.” Although I can usually count on my ten year old to lend a truly helpful hand, I know from experience that “help” from the four year old is sometimes actually exactly the opposite of that. I was already making a little mental list of things for him to “help” me with.

However, as quickly as I was packing away the pattern blocks and construction paper, they were equally as quickly being unpacked by the four year old as entertainment for the only children left in this room. I sighed as I realized this was a losing battle and set about accomplishing what I could. Pattern blocks and paper alone don’t hold a summertime child’s attention very long though and soon the sound of a normal brother and sister’s bickering began.

Allison being ten and Trent, four, there are the usual complaints. Allison complains that Trent is into her stuff. Trent complains that Allison won’t share. Then they both complain that they are bored. It is not often that they play together, usually if forced, or if a third party is involved, though I ply them with requests to enjoy each other almost daily. I decided that I was not the entertainment director for the day and they would have to figure it out for themselves.

A little while passed and suddenly it was quiet. Eerily quiet. I looked up from the student files I was sorting to see the two of them huddled on the floor. Together. Between them was the rather large box of Legos that I keep for rainy day free time. Bright pieces of colorful plastic squares and rectangles were strewn on the floor around them as tiny masterpieces were forming before my eyes. Little fingers joined with bigger ones to create, imagine, cooperate….it was magical.

Personally I have never been able to appreciate Legos the way that my students do. For children who learn best by using manipulatives they are a charm. But that day as I watched a box of little bricks build a relationship between the world of my big kid and the world of my little kid, I knew I would never see those blocks the same way again.

The magic of the Legos had afforded me the luxury of a little peace, but the joy of seeing my children doing something together….that was the best magic I had ever seen.

Labels:

posted by Alex Elliot @ 11:17 PM   7 comments
7 Comments:

  • At 3/31/2007 11:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    There's something magical about the things that bring little ones (even if they are big little ones) together. What a beautiful exchange post!
    -J

     

  • At 4/01/2007 4:24 PM, Anonymous nutmeg said…

    I particularly enjoyed this post as both a mothr and a teacher!

     

  • At 4/01/2007 5:42 PM, Blogger soccer mom in denial said…

    First of all - THANK YOU for being a teacher. There are not enough of you. I tried one year with Teach for America, tried being the operative word.

    But I think I'll need to stash a box of Legos in my office for those days the kids come to "visit".

     

  • At 4/01/2007 7:05 PM, Anonymous FishyGirl said…

    That's one of the best parts of having more than one child (and definitely the best part about legos - makes the stepping on them and sucking them up in the vacuum cleaner worth it).

     

  • At 4/01/2007 9:41 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    I think that those are the times I love best...watching my children play together peaceably.

     

  • At 4/01/2007 10:51 PM, Blogger Alex Elliot said…

    I look forward to magic moments like that as my younger son gets older. Right now I only see glimpses since there's such an obvious difference in their ability (3 years vs. 9 months) but I am amazed when they do seem to amuse each other even if it's just for a short period of time. Thanks for sharing your post on my blog!

     

  • At 4/02/2007 1:50 AM, Blogger Jennifer said…

    This was a wonderful read. I can absolutely see why it was chosen as best. Thanks...

     
Post a Comment
Home
 

My Profile

Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile

Flexible Media Appearances

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Fox TV, August 3, 2007

Flexible Feeds

More Flexible Parenting

Grasshopper New Media Parents
Just Cause
Birth Days

Flexible Categories

Previous Posts

Archives

For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

Powered by Blogger
© Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting


Creative Commons License
Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting by Alex Elliot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Template Design based on one produced by isnaini dot com