I walk my children to and from school each day. Well, walk, ride bikes, scooter, whatever. But we get there slowly, at their pace. It is a great time to connect. Busy life aside, it is our time together: no phones, no computer, lots of fresh air and moving through weather together.
My daughters are getting older, starting to have those interactions at school that, as adults, we might think back to and cringe… you know the kind… my best friend was someone else’s best friend today… I did my math problem wrong and the teacher made me do it over (much to my horror)… or just the new concepts and ideas about life/bodies/gender/sex/grades/sense of self – all that good stuff. And this year, it is certainly more noticeable than other years.
So lately, I’ve been conscious about what seeds I can plant during our morning and afternoon walks. Is there anything I can ask, or say, or stories that I can tell, that give my girls a bit of new self-insight, new strength, new ways of thinking about the world, as they figure it out for themselves?
- I’m always so proud of you.
- I look forward to finding out something amazing that happens in your day today.
- You are wonderful to talk to, wonderful to be around.
- I love holding your hand.
- Let’s hurry to class, so we can see your new project on the wall (and take a picture of it to show Dad later and send to Gramma).
- How did you see that as a learning opportunity? What did you learn from that?
- How is that working for you?
- What is one amazing thing you learned or discovered today?
- What is something new that you learned about yourself today?
- What was the best part of your day?
- Was there anything today that surprised you?
- How did you handle that?
Anyway, planting seeds, seeds of strength and self-awareness and empowerment. Life seeds.
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