Each morning the kids and I negotiate their pick-up time from school. I'm always trying to get them to stay later, they always want me to come earlier. When I drop them off, we negotiate the amount of time that i'm going to stay with them before leaving. They refuse to just get out of the car and let me drive off. I have found myself getting a little impatient with them sometimes and thinking, aren't they a little old to be this clingy?,before coming to my senses and remembering that they are only 5 and in a new situation.
Today, Desmond brought a backpack to school but he had no cubby to put it in because when a staff member was helping them to choose cubbies and put their name on it, Des didn't feel like doing it. I reminded him to make a sign and find a cubby as we were walking in and told him he could ask the staff. One staff member was there and I told her what was going on. I told Des he could ask her and he said he was shy. She said "I can't make him ask me for help." I said I understood that, I was just trying to get him to take care of it before he got sick of carrying around his backpack. She said to me, very gently, "Well, when he gets tired of carrying it he'll leave it somewhere and then he'll get written up and then he'll get himself a cubby." I had an "aha" moment and thanked her for reminding me of one of the reasons why I had picked Sudbury for my kids in the first place:because they respect the fact that making mistakes is a part of the learning process. This little interaction also reminded me that I'm having some trouble letting go myself.
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