Charlie spent last Thursday running around outside during her school’s Field Day, which I volunteered for… She had a blast, referencing the first photo… I was at the PVC Pipe station, hence the second photo…. The kids are to pretend they are astronauts and they must take their piece of the PVC pipe, connect it with their neighbor’s, and get the space matter (a tennis ball) from the first pipe to the last pipe… 17 rounds of students K thru 2nd grade…. Oh my goodness…. If a class never had an argument before, they certainly had them during this exercise! “Lindsey, don’t do that!” and “Michael is dropping his side!” and “Carly, you’re not doing it right!” and “I want to go first!” We did our best and the teachers did a great job guiding the kids through the day. I will admit, however, that I lovingly referred to my station as the “team building station” aka “Conflict management station” aka “Stress station”…. The kids worked very hard…. and looking back, I acknowledge my feeling of overwhelming energy because these kids were all over the place. My inner dialogue asks, “Can you imagine what it’s like to be a teacher?” Yes, I can…. and I admire them… I admire them being the disciplinary and the comforter. I recognize that I had this intention of yelling over them so they could hear me and thought of my children referring to me as ‘tough’… I related to many of the teachers because we all carry this tone of telling/teaching/care and authority. It’s not all about having fun and letting loose, it’s about maintaining control. Although my intuition wanted me to release and have fun, I felt bombarded by their energies and urge to control. This is the pattern I find in my own parenting. I want to have fun and play, however my main responsibility is to keep them safe and control is one way to obtain their safety. I just wanted to control these kids because if they didn’t listen and work together, and accept my help, they were not going to put these tubes together…. and hold them together…. So, I took responsibility for their failure, as well as their moments of putting it together. They needed guidance and support.
What I’d like to see happen, is for me to grow the moments when I listen to my children’s energy and what their heart is saying, rather than what my goals and objectives are for the moment. This is part of releasing and letting it be. Trying is the opposite of letting go. Rather than use force, I can use listening. I can listen to their intention and use the energy of their moment to teach them the purpose of the moment and how to keep themselves safe, if applicable… Energy baseball… I receive their intention, take a moment if necessary, and throw it back…gently….Field Day, I’ll be ready for you next year.
Diagnosis during pregnancy 