March 1, 2023

March 1, 2023 

When you spend time with (brilliant) young children, it feels like an alternative world. It's easy to get used to how different they are than adults after spending day after day with them. Their concerns and complexities and ideas and creative expression can make it seem like they are more than children, but other times they are exactly as childish as you'd expect children to be, willfully self-centered, emotionally overwhelmed by small frustrations and often wearing their hearts on their sleeves, spontaneous elated, affectionate, moody, rebellious, and enthusiastic. But they often have ideas as good or better than those of adults, and are often as wise or wiser, and their memories are sharper, and they are often right about things or able to remind you of what you overlooked or forgot. Plus they can do things like learn new languages, do gymnastics, play classical music, remember and recite pages of dialogue or forgive people without holding grudges in ways that adults can only dream of doing.

This month's essay, The Big Recess Show contains a description of a spontaneous theatrical extravaganza I was lucky enough to observe while being a recess monitor last month.

The song of the month Again and Again comes from a walk in the woods and a cat by the fire and a loud evening wind storm and the way I feel about someone I've known forever and hope to keep knowing forever who I like to see again and again.  I've probably said too much. It can mean whatever it means to you when you hear it. 

 The video below is part of an Object Writing exercise, riffing on the word of the day: "Advance"