Slowin' Down

Moving has been hard. Packing, cleaning, good-bye-ing, moving, unpacking, re-cleaning, meeting, organizing, processing - it can add up to one big mess. Especially one big mess of a mama. I've been trying to get a hold of myself lately - which can be a bit of a feat. I don't want my kids to suffer as I'm stressing out and trying to get everything done... for months.

So as I've been reading For the Children's Sake (recommended by my friend Caron at my request for some books on schooling), I've been helped by a few passages:

"Six-year-old children are pressurized as executives. Children are being 'fitted into' a streamlined schedule designed for the parents so they can cope with their pressures... And so, overentertained, pushed, pulled, and tidied up, often the child of today has the rich creative play-response crushed out. Sometimes the only thing his dulled eyes focus on is a premature adolescence which will release him from childhood."

"Grown-ups need time if their life is to support this kind of play, The children have to matter more than the furniture (but the children don't mind at all sticking to the boundaries). This means saying no to too many time-consuming activities for adults and children."

So here we are. I'm trying not to push and pull and hurry and stress out about the moving-in process (and life in general around here). I'm hopeful for at least a bit of success, and grateful for the lesson (and for grace!). There's so much to enjoy about (and with) these little ones.