Before we went to bed last night my daughter’s friend told us, “I’ll come back by at 4:00am to watch the meteor shower.” I didn’t believe it and I even said in a very sarcastic tone, “Yeah right!”
So, when I woke up at 5:00am I was impressed that there was an extra kid in the house.
What I don’t understand is how on any other day I can’t get my kids up before noon but let something exciting happen in the sky and even the neighbor’s kids are up and over at 4:00am. They won’t be motivated by alarms or momma but they will obey the heavens. I guess I can't be too insulted.
We all crawled out on the top of the patio and watched the sky. I saw three meteorites before deciding that I didn’t want to be attacked by the dew so I came back inside and tried unsuccessfully to go to sleep. (Too much on my mind: Elkind, play, testing, early childhood education...that's another post.)
Truth: Kids can wake up early if there’s something exciting worth waking up for.
How to use that to our advantage is the challenge. No!!! I have to reprogram my brain and quit that mindset. I could write a whole book on how I battle daily with first reactions based on fear and "that's just the way it is" vs trust and "letting go and letting Life." Maybe it's more of a what would serve me in the classroom and make my students get better grades on a state mandated test vs creating a relaxed and happy home.
Every day can’t be exciting. If a meteor shower happened every morning it would get old. (I just had to share a glimpse of the torture caused by shifting pedagogical paradigms.)
Did anyone else see some meteorites?
I love the phrase "let go and let God" or "let go and let Learning."
(I haven't had coffee)
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I missed that shower this time around but it has never let me down in the past. My stepdaughter usually stays up for it as well. Probably the only time she looks up from texting. Good post!
August 17, 2009 at 8:06 a.m.Hi Rebecca I thought 4and 5 o-clock came only once a day. So I went out at 4 yesterday and didn't see a single one
August 12, 2009 at 9:37 a.m.I went outside from 3:00 am until 3:30 am and never saw a thing and not one mosquito.
August 12, 2009 at 9:23 a.m.Laurenfra, sorry for being so stressed and grumpy all the time. I'll take them as long as they can take my nagging. I was actually motivated by you to start "letting go" of some mindsets. I admire you.
August 12, 2009 at 8:48 a.m.See here I thought I was being such a bad parent going back to bed after getting my child to your house at 4:00 am. I also could not go back to sleep but mine for the guilt of not being excited about this teachable moment.
August 12, 2009 at 8:41 a.m.But after hearing you speak about "shifting pedagogical paradigms" I feel the need to get busy educating my kids. (I just plan on doing it in the daylight)
Thanks Rebecca for being such a great friend. (and someone who takes my kids at 4:00am
Since I had some trouble sleeping last night, I kept going out in intervals to watch the sky for about 2 minutes at a time. Mosquitoes were surprisingly bad given how little rain we've had. I saw a few fainter ones that weren't out shined by the moon, but that's it. I didn't stay up through the peak hours too much, so if there was a good show, I missed it.
August 12, 2009 at 8:40 a.m.