Static electricity from Van der Graaf
Monday was day 1 of our trip, and we took advantage of our science museum membership to go to Jacksonville's MOSH (museum of science and natural history). It's a very kid-friendly museum, with primarily hands-on exhibits, though the Chronicles of Narnia travelling exhibit had a lot of hands-off original stuff from the movie--including the wardrobe itself and an original wardrobe that actually belonged to C.S. Lewis (the author)! The costumes for the movie were my favorite, as they were the most beautiful 'costumes' I've ever seen! How fun it must be to design them, then see them in the movie, and then on tour in a museum!
Honestly, though, I enjoyed the planetarium and science show more, though. I appreciated getting introduced to the night sky and feeling momentarily acquainted. It can be so easy to 'spot' constellations when you're looking for them (Orion's belt is everywhere!), and I never know if I have it right. I still wouldn't know, I'm sure, but it's easier when someone directs a pointer at them for you.
The science show demonstrated the participatory nature of Montessori to me! My kids took literally that the demonstrator wanted an answer to any question that he asked. Fiona and Alex came up with ideas and guesses and were gung-ho about the whole thing. Elizabeth and Nicholas were right with them in volunteering, too. The demonstrator referred to our group as the 'loud' bunch, though it was all participatory loudness!
You know, adults are curious creatures, really. I like the natural participation of the kids, and I actually was the only adult to volunteer, too! I'm really quite shy, but I knew I'd feel like I'd lost out if I didn't get to experience what the kids were reacting to. Of course, I only volunteered for 'group' experiences, but that's still pretty good for me with an audience around.
What I have trouble fathoming is why most adults, especially those not stricken with self-conscious nerves, don't want to participate. I do admit that I occasionally am not quite as enthusiastic about participating as the kids on a few things, but, generally speaking, I always have personal interest in their activities, unless it's something I never have had interest in (like baseball, which I'd have skipped participating in as a kid, too.)
A couple of weeks ago, we went bowling with another family. I rented shoes and got one lane for adults and one for kids, as we arrived five minutes or so before the other family. When the other mother arrived and saw that I was expecting to bowl, she was clearly disappointed and said that she wasn't planning on bowling, but that she would since I'd gone to the trouble already. Abashed, I figured out that I could let her son exchange my shoes for himself, and I was relieved to figure it out so she wouldn't have to bowl. It's funny, but I felt embarrassed about my expectation to bowl. Everyone knows that the moms sit and watch! Much as I love my kids, though...it's just boring to sit and watch them have fun without me!
Perhaps I'm just not enough a grown-up! No kid in his or her right mind would enjoy going to sit and watch other kids have fun. I deal with it a bit, for their sakes, and I can often really enjoy the conversation with other adults or perhaps a distracting book or some such, but I'm like the kid who doesn't get to participate, half the time!
Oh, of course I enjoy an occasional presentation of their skills! Ballet recitals, taekwondo testing, etc. are all of great interest, but I surely have no desire to watch complacently through all of their practicing. That's bad enough, but I just want to keel over when I'm at an activity where I can't even see them practice! Then I can't even live vicariously! I watch with amazement at dance class or (formerly) at Kindermusik or gymnastics at how the other moms calmly and happily wait in the hallway for their kids to finish, as if it doesn't matter a whit to them whether they can see or not. Rather like a hired chauffeur, it seems...
Anyhow, I'm glad I pulled past my self-consciousness and got literally shocked with the kids at the science show yesterday! Likewise, I love doing the art class with Fiona. I'm fascinated by the books we read. I used to adore taekwondo (until my body insisted that I'm not a kid and refused to allow it!). It's just fun sharing in all these things with the kids, and, while I wholeheartedly admire how selfless these parents seem to be who are willing to sacrifice all their time completely for the kids' sakes...I just don't get it! Why not join in? The kids like our participation, too!
Again...the down side to my self-centered world view... Alex doesn't get to do as many sports-type things and their activities are more skewed towards my own interests. But, then again, parents generally do choose the activities with their own preferences in mind, and I always try to consider their strongest wishes (hence Alex playing soccer and going to baseball camp).
I've also never been a mom to stand outside to supervise her kids playing very much, and I allowed them to play outside without me much earlier than many conscientious moms. I always felt riddled with...hmm, not guilt...more worry about the other mothers judging me as they stood outside sweating and dutifully watching their own children play! I truly wasn't very concerned about my kids' safety, as we were in a quiet cul-de-sac and it seemed fine--and they were always good about staying within the set boundaries. If they got hurt, I knew they'd be inside in a heartbeat to tell me! Okay, and there is a big upside, too...my kids got much more time outside than those other kids whose moms could only take so much sun and sweat! I'm not criticizing those amazing moms, but it's just that I wasn't made to be absolutely miserable while the kids played and so could bear for them to play longer! (No, the mothers were NOT participating, of course!). Oh, and maybe it's not even that, as those selfless mothers may have stood outside longer, if they weren't needing to go inside to cook a dinner and clean the house! (Meanwhile, I'm sitting in my clutter blogging or reading a book and sipping coffee!)
Kind of funny, this entry, as I never saw myself as a terribly participatory kind of person. I have definite recluse tendencies. I was the quiet bookworm even as a kid, but perhaps that still had more to do with my taste and preferences than in not joining in on fun (which I did, if it actually seemed fun and I felt welcome!). Hmm...perhaps that's true for the adults, too, but then I'm not sure what real adults are interested in! (Maybe it's when the homemaking ideas are brewing! Maybe my focus is just off! Cleaning and organizing have yet to captivate my fancies!)
Anyhow (quickly changing the subject), participation in mind, today is a water park day! Blizzard Beach, here we come... :)
Honestly, though, I enjoyed the planetarium and science show more, though. I appreciated getting introduced to the night sky and feeling momentarily acquainted. It can be so easy to 'spot' constellations when you're looking for them (Orion's belt is everywhere!), and I never know if I have it right. I still wouldn't know, I'm sure, but it's easier when someone directs a pointer at them for you.
The science show demonstrated the participatory nature of Montessori to me! My kids took literally that the demonstrator wanted an answer to any question that he asked. Fiona and Alex came up with ideas and guesses and were gung-ho about the whole thing. Elizabeth and Nicholas were right with them in volunteering, too. The demonstrator referred to our group as the 'loud' bunch, though it was all participatory loudness!
You know, adults are curious creatures, really. I like the natural participation of the kids, and I actually was the only adult to volunteer, too! I'm really quite shy, but I knew I'd feel like I'd lost out if I didn't get to experience what the kids were reacting to. Of course, I only volunteered for 'group' experiences, but that's still pretty good for me with an audience around.
What I have trouble fathoming is why most adults, especially those not stricken with self-conscious nerves, don't want to participate. I do admit that I occasionally am not quite as enthusiastic about participating as the kids on a few things, but, generally speaking, I always have personal interest in their activities, unless it's something I never have had interest in (like baseball, which I'd have skipped participating in as a kid, too.)
A couple of weeks ago, we went bowling with another family. I rented shoes and got one lane for adults and one for kids, as we arrived five minutes or so before the other family. When the other mother arrived and saw that I was expecting to bowl, she was clearly disappointed and said that she wasn't planning on bowling, but that she would since I'd gone to the trouble already. Abashed, I figured out that I could let her son exchange my shoes for himself, and I was relieved to figure it out so she wouldn't have to bowl. It's funny, but I felt embarrassed about my expectation to bowl. Everyone knows that the moms sit and watch! Much as I love my kids, though...it's just boring to sit and watch them have fun without me!
Perhaps I'm just not enough a grown-up! No kid in his or her right mind would enjoy going to sit and watch other kids have fun. I deal with it a bit, for their sakes, and I can often really enjoy the conversation with other adults or perhaps a distracting book or some such, but I'm like the kid who doesn't get to participate, half the time!
Oh, of course I enjoy an occasional presentation of their skills! Ballet recitals, taekwondo testing, etc. are all of great interest, but I surely have no desire to watch complacently through all of their practicing. That's bad enough, but I just want to keel over when I'm at an activity where I can't even see them practice! Then I can't even live vicariously! I watch with amazement at dance class or (formerly) at Kindermusik or gymnastics at how the other moms calmly and happily wait in the hallway for their kids to finish, as if it doesn't matter a whit to them whether they can see or not. Rather like a hired chauffeur, it seems...
Anyhow, I'm glad I pulled past my self-consciousness and got literally shocked with the kids at the science show yesterday! Likewise, I love doing the art class with Fiona. I'm fascinated by the books we read. I used to adore taekwondo (until my body insisted that I'm not a kid and refused to allow it!). It's just fun sharing in all these things with the kids, and, while I wholeheartedly admire how selfless these parents seem to be who are willing to sacrifice all their time completely for the kids' sakes...I just don't get it! Why not join in? The kids like our participation, too!
Again...the down side to my self-centered world view... Alex doesn't get to do as many sports-type things and their activities are more skewed towards my own interests. But, then again, parents generally do choose the activities with their own preferences in mind, and I always try to consider their strongest wishes (hence Alex playing soccer and going to baseball camp).
I've also never been a mom to stand outside to supervise her kids playing very much, and I allowed them to play outside without me much earlier than many conscientious moms. I always felt riddled with...hmm, not guilt...more worry about the other mothers judging me as they stood outside sweating and dutifully watching their own children play! I truly wasn't very concerned about my kids' safety, as we were in a quiet cul-de-sac and it seemed fine--and they were always good about staying within the set boundaries. If they got hurt, I knew they'd be inside in a heartbeat to tell me! Okay, and there is a big upside, too...my kids got much more time outside than those other kids whose moms could only take so much sun and sweat! I'm not criticizing those amazing moms, but it's just that I wasn't made to be absolutely miserable while the kids played and so could bear for them to play longer! (No, the mothers were NOT participating, of course!). Oh, and maybe it's not even that, as those selfless mothers may have stood outside longer, if they weren't needing to go inside to cook a dinner and clean the house! (Meanwhile, I'm sitting in my clutter blogging or reading a book and sipping coffee!)
Kind of funny, this entry, as I never saw myself as a terribly participatory kind of person. I have definite recluse tendencies. I was the quiet bookworm even as a kid, but perhaps that still had more to do with my taste and preferences than in not joining in on fun (which I did, if it actually seemed fun and I felt welcome!). Hmm...perhaps that's true for the adults, too, but then I'm not sure what real adults are interested in! (Maybe it's when the homemaking ideas are brewing! Maybe my focus is just off! Cleaning and organizing have yet to captivate my fancies!)
Anyhow (quickly changing the subject), participation in mind, today is a water park day! Blizzard Beach, here we come... :)
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