My son came into my office early one morning and stood behind me at my desk, spinning his beads over my head. I swiveled around in my desk chair, placed my hand on his belly and scanned his face for his mood. He seemed content. His bed-head indicated a solid sleep.
I love your writing so much!! And I love even more the reminders from your son and how you gently pass them along to us. Stop rushing to question two, question one’s answers are still formulating — I’ll keep saying this to myself 🤍
One of the guys I support for work has very limited language use and it is always a big surprise when he says something that is outside of his normal vocabulary.
Also, the way you ended the piece with the little snickers satisfying pun was great :)
I had so many smiles reading this, it's wonderful. We have recently been told to try the rule of 5 (it has a name but I never remember it) of using 5 words or less when asking Mars a question then waiting 5 full seconds for a responses, I have to admit I forget often to try this!
Me too - I am constantly stopping myself from throwing too many words at him, and starting over - keep it simple, the less words the better (& for us, writing it down whenever we can) :)
Nice! I know a couple of folks (including teachers, therapists) I wish would learn to practice patience—a little gentle, kind persistence with a big dash of "think time" or "wait time" can result in rewarding conversations! It's too easy to get caught up in criteria for success that are predicated on "right now!"
One of the good features of Montessori's approach is to let the learner have the space to do her (or his) work. It's a pleasure to watch how independent toddlers can become in a matter of months (of course some of that is just growing up, but it's pretty clear that they can learn to "use their words," get out their work (and put it away before going to the next work, take turns, and all that).
I love your writing so much!! And I love even more the reminders from your son and how you gently pass them along to us. Stop rushing to question two, question one’s answers are still formulating — I’ll keep saying this to myself 🤍
Thanks, Caroline! He has to keep teaching me this over and over… His words are so worth the wait.
Love this! I was going to say 'a happy ending' but actually it's a 'happy middle of the story'!
Yes, with more to come, right? Thank you!!
This was wonderful, Robin!
One of the guys I support for work has very limited language use and it is always a big surprise when he says something that is outside of his normal vocabulary.
Also, the way you ended the piece with the little snickers satisfying pun was great :)
Thank you! My son really surprises me once in awhile, and it's SO nice -- and so glad you enjoyed my pun, I am happy when I find those :)
I had so many smiles reading this, it's wonderful. We have recently been told to try the rule of 5 (it has a name but I never remember it) of using 5 words or less when asking Mars a question then waiting 5 full seconds for a responses, I have to admit I forget often to try this!
This is great - I should try this too! Easier said than done sometimes…
Oh absolutely I always forget to pause or to keep my sentences simple 🤦🏻♀️
Me too - I am constantly stopping myself from throwing too many words at him, and starting over - keep it simple, the less words the better (& for us, writing it down whenever we can) :)
Nice! I know a couple of folks (including teachers, therapists) I wish would learn to practice patience—a little gentle, kind persistence with a big dash of "think time" or "wait time" can result in rewarding conversations! It's too easy to get caught up in criteria for success that are predicated on "right now!"
So true - and I just watched a therapist with my son today who was excellent at this, really giving him lots of processing time, with great results.
One of the good features of Montessori's approach is to let the learner have the space to do her (or his) work. It's a pleasure to watch how independent toddlers can become in a matter of months (of course some of that is just growing up, but it's pretty clear that they can learn to "use their words," get out their work (and put it away before going to the next work, take turns, and all that).
What a thoughtful, relatable exploration. I often have insights reading your words and appreciate the chance to get to step into your world each time.
Thank you, Addie!