Luke

Post 381: Why I love Waldorf

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I am sure I have gone on and on about my love of the Waldorf School concepts and practices, perhaps not, but it makes no difference because what I know is that my kids are thriving in all areas of life as far as I can tell and their school supports a diversity I don’t see happening in other areas of education.

There was a handout at a recent parent night about researchers who have studied child development in hunter gatherer tribes. That children in these cultures are allowed (and encouraged) to play, play, play until they are fully ready to take on the challenges of adult life, Like until the are seventeen or eighteen. PLAY is the key!

Homework bad, play good!

What recently became apparent to me with Luke was his unbridled enthusiasm about this last “handwork” creation. This is a boy who loves baseball more just than about anything, plays football by himself (as well as any other sport you might care to mention) but when he brought home his “needle book” and showed it to us, the light in his eyes, the profound confidence he displayed describing every stitch, this made me see a whole person, a whole being. A lovely boy in every way imaginable.

For Lily it is her inner ability to create worlds. She has got so many little secret worlds floating about it is impossible to keep track. Yet if you ask her to describe what that pile of scarves, papers, stones, sticks and blankets are, she will give a detailed and well thought out description of that world.

For me this took on more “real world” experience when after a huge storm, one that knocked out power for thousands of residents and downed many trees in our neighborhood, I went outside to purvey the damage in our yard and what I saw was this:

A Fairy House she had made before the storm and was completely un-harmed.

Resilient.

Post 378: If you…

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I don’t want to finish the post title as it might sound contrite, but I trust after reading this you will agree it is the only appropriate description.

When Luke started school, one thing happened immediately, he came home talking about playing baseball at recess. Now, for many schools, this would not seem at all out of place, but you must remember that Luke’s (and Lily’s) school is not one made from heavy team action, no Friday night lights here. There regular team sports are Frisbee golf and cross country running.

So, when Luke came home so excited about playing baseball, I was truly curious. Then I found out that he was playing with just one other boy, a stick and a rock. I was impressed and aside from the rock, it all sounded like a great plan.

A few days later it was:
A stick, a wood chip and four players.

Then:
A stick, a wood chip and a full infield.

Then:
Full teams, including the teachers, REAL bases and a REAL bat.

About a month goes by and all I know is that the entire class plays baseball pretty much every day, even the teachers. They have umpires and some sort of a “review” system in the event of a close call.

Luke just loves it all, its the first thing I hear about when I pick him up after school (hit a grand slam today Dad!)

So, like I said:

If you build it…

 

Post 377: Keep Out!, but stay close…

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So much transition, hard to know whats what these days.

Since we moved across the country, Luke has been spending a LOT of time in his “grumpy duffers” mode as we call it. This can involve very heavy stomping around, complete disregard to either parents request, usually attenuated with an “I am NOT going to do it!” clause and possibly a jag or a toss of some object towards Lily. Culminating in a complete removal to a “safe space”, such as the now moniker-ed “Keep out!” room. (which is a hall closet)

What we realized after re-reading some of the dated, yet totally applicable Your Eight Year Old  is that he is truly in the throws of the sinister nine year change.

Good to know, take a deep breath and surround him with support, that’s what we can do as his parents.

Meanwhile developments continue, one of my favorite is the “fake phone call” in direct response to listening to his mom and dad on the phone talking to who ever. Lily does it as well. Actually Lily may even be more into it as she dug out one of the lego iphone highlighted way back in post #331 and walks around the house in complete conversation with imaginary tel-marketers, friends, relatives, you name it. I LOVE listening to these conversations, they are complete with lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” and “uh huh?”

I was able to record a Luke call surreptitiously, it is far from his best, but still has some great moments. He is using the regicaster as the phone.

Post 376: A Yard for the boy

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We have been in Maine for a wee bit and there is one thing for sure. Luke finally has a place to go hit a ball, a baseball, a golf ball, a “you name it ball”.

It is a yard big enough for a boy.

This made me go back to one of my other blogs and retrieve a draft post I created years ago, but never finished.

A long time ago I had the privilege of watching David Mamet direct his play Oleanna over the course of many weeks. It was an unforgettable experience to be a fly on that wall but this post only has to do with one line from the play that has always stuck in my head.

..and a yard for the boy

So, when Luke started getting really industrious in our small, trying to be functional yard in Los Angeles I wrote this:

I have been working feverishly to have a yard for my son Luke that is a place where he wants to explore, work, play, hide and discover. I feel I have done pretty well.

He never ceases to amaze me in his own exuberance over things to do in the yard.

It is an interesting process keeping up with Luke’s interests. He likes to work hard at just about anything and is quite adept at doing things on his own. Recently he broke one of his plastic play tools and I realized it was time for a functional (ie real metal)  tool kit, it was a blast putting it together and the only stumbling block thus far is the “saw”. He wants a saw and I want to give him a saw, so now he has a saw and it is just a matter of making sure he does cut his finger with it.

He is building a house. He told me that it will be the same size as ours, but have a second story on it and he will use his saw to cut the wood and his monkey wrench to connect the water pipes to the main lines.

Each endeavor seems to bring a lovely and direct approach. The other day he asked about baseball. I said I would be happy to get a bat so we could practice. He ran away and came back with a 1 5/8 inch wooden dowel that was lying around, and you know what, we practiced some baseball!

So now, many years later here we are. Luke loves baseball, dreams about it, plays games by himself about it, follows the stats about it and has a yard big enough to play ball in! So, if nothing else I feel I have accomplished that.

Post 375: New digs

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I have been very hesitant to post regarding our cross country move as it still feels very “other-worldly” we have not landed in our new home yet, currently interloping for the summer in Bangor, Maine.

Shall I digress? A bit, perhaps.

We decided after what feels like years of deliberation to move our small and lovely colony to Maine, the homeland for mom and a place of endless excitement.

So, we did it and it has all gone exactly according to our plan thus far and the kids seem completely on board, but there is a part of it that feels unfinished, I keep waiting for the other “shoe to drop”. My imagination has images of weeping and wailing children and complaining and thunderous appropriations on why oh why are we in Maine?

But what I see is this:

It is unfinished yes, we still have a few weeks to go before we move into our new home. For the last six weeks our entire life’s belongings have been sitting in a storage locker a few miles away, an infinite distance for all of us. Everybody wants some stability, some concrete reminder of our lives as we left them. A particular stuffed animal, Dad’s sushi, a backup for my computer, the list is varied and long in each our our minds.

I know we will get there and soon, and I truly wonder what it will be like to reflect back on this time, but for now I am truly thankful for how tightly knit we are as a family.