Many people visualize this as pushy parents pouring over school league tables and running children to endless after school clubs to learn mandarin and Suzuki violin.
They hire tutors and buy CD's of subliminal learning for their kids to listen to whilst sleeping.
My failure to do all this makes me a bad parent ;)
This Easter I have given the boys their own "garden" to plant and tend.
The sad demise of a large chest of drawers (to damp and woodworm) left me with three very big drawers that just begged to be turned into raised beds...if only for one season.
Eldest son was given the job of digging muck from the old-er muck heap and once they where 3/4 full we tootled off to the garden centre.
This is usually a trip punctuated by whining, crying and pouting, but this time OH behaved himself (HAHAHAHahahahahahahahHAHAHAhahahahAHAHAHAhahahah! ah dear...)
The promise of choosing a plant of their own made the trip for once ALMOST enjoyable.
They each picked out a small heather, each a different colour so they could tell who's garden was who's.
They reverently dug their hole and carefully took the plants out of their pots then they sowed carrot, pea and garlic plus the bonus of a leftover strawberry plant each.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this, if they are keen to do the same next year, to stretch their wings a little and plant a little less haphazardly.
The raising of plants and animals can only teach the very important life lessons, patience, tolerance, kindness and the rewards that come with that, but also it teaches them how to handle the inevitable disappointments that come in life, the death of a pet, the failure of a plant.
We owe it to our children and our planet to push these lessons....maths can wait.
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Do you let HIM read these posts? HAHAHAHAAAA ah dear (wiping my eyes..............)
ReplyDeleteMum
but of course....he knows I mock him to the world on a daily basis ;) xx
ReplyDeleteI love this post because it is SO true. My youngest is very empathetic to the world around her and very, very concerned about the health of Mother Earth. She loves to grow and nurture things but still understands the cycle of life and death.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I hate it when people hide death from kids. They have a base understanding of death, when OH's old horse was put down they knew about it and eldest still asks to go to his grave sometimes (its in the field). I think the more its hidden the more scary it becomes. And yes they are growing into boys that understand to life cycles and what happens when they are disrupted.
ReplyDeleteGreat job. No school lesson could ever teach the relevence of sustainable living. I`m sure your boys are well ajusted and seem to have far more knowledge than most kids ever will have the pleasure to aquire.
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