We the People of this family are incredibly grateful for the talented people that have helped us this far with the scheme. A friend we know from church, Lorianne, who has one of those brains that seems to retain and see from above and see forty steps ahead and meld everything together offered to have us over for lunch (delicious and healthy and easy (she claims)... case in point) to teach us about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
She encouraged the kids to search for the answers from the documents and the compare and contrast the two. I am sad to admit just how clarifying this experience was for me. My favorite part was when she asked the kids where they would like to travel -- they said Bar Harbor, Maine -- and then they went to the computer and printed out the route from NYC to Bar Harbor. She explained that the GOAL (Bar Harbor) was the Declaration of Independence and the MAP was the Constitution. (She also said to me that the Declaration of Independence could be thought of as a mission statement and the Constitution the business plan).
I also liked being reminded that there were ten years between the Declaration and the Constitution when our country was a hot mess. It makes me feel hopeful for other countries that are trying to work things out right now. Life is a balance between inspiration and patience.
There were a lot of facts and a lot of ideas.. and I will have to admit that I felt antsy because my kids were like little zombies mumbling out unintelligible responses. I have to remind myself that at 9 and 7 a lot of these lessons are just meant to be exposure... I have also been reminded of how thankless the job of a teacher is. As soon as we walked out the door both of my kids looked at me all perky and said, "That was sooooo cool."/"That was really fun!" I was like: "WHAT?" I felt like I had been sabotaged into turning into the helicopter parent ("Answer clearly please!") because I so wanted Lorianne to know how awesome it was, and so to find out that they had actually been liking it the whole time was for some reason maddening. I have no doubt that teachers go home on most days feeling like all of their creativity and thought and preparation was wasted on a bunch of mumbling zombies... So I'll just put it out there (for really no purpose other than for myself) -- to all the teachers in the world: THANK YOU, and steady on -- a lot of kids are listening and absorbing -- but the process of listening and absorbing is kind of using up all their energy, so it's super hard to also be articulate and animated. Some can do it -- and that's a goal. Our map for getting there is just more and more exposure...
We balanced out our brain workout with a little Halloween play date/party with friends from school. The kids made decorations and planned games (which they didn't end up playing because running feral is more fun and, I think, more beneficial).
There was a tragedy in our neighborhood this week, and there is a whiff of anxiety for a possible hurricane... Having good friends -- friends who reach out and offer to enlighten my children, and friends who come to our parties to play, and friends who send kind emails, and friends who bring us eggs from their chickens -- helps us feel a bit more anchored and insulated from frightening elements.
