A Mindful Life

Haven’t provided a photo of my dear girl in awhile. As I cooked dinner (homemade corned beef hash), she played spelling with magnets. She wrote “Stella Bella the Cat” but didn’t have enough letters; “D” substituted for “THE” and the “J” had to stand in for letter “L” — cute!

When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl. [...]

As Claire grew out of infancy and toddlerhood, it became evident that her rich imagination generated all sorts of stories with many plots. Our playtime changed. Claire has found it difficult to “share the story,” to play with. It isn’t really parallel play either (which is normal for the age). Instead, her play partner has [...]

Recently Claire has shown a greater interest in coloring and using writing tools. She’s increasingly at ease holding the pen(cil). It seems her favorite is colored markers, probably because they slide easily over the paper. She prefers to color pictures I draw for her (rather than choosing from the library of coloring books she has [...]

Below is the description of the Harper Family’s donation to the Wilson preschool fundraiser. More information about this is coming, including other prizes and ticket availability. I’m just sharing this in case you’d like to buy tickets when available ($1.00 each). Zen Life Kit There’s a lot of talk about Zen these days, but not [...]

As Claire gets older and encounters the world, I find myself thinking that I need an exorcism of my past. That sounds drastic, yes? Claire displays an intensity and sensitivity that I recognize. I observe how she interacts with kids at school, and I feel painful echoes. I want so much not to project my [...]

The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands, a hundred thoughts, a hundred ways of thinking, of playing, of speaking. A hundred, always a hundred, ways of listening, of marveling, of loving, a hundred joys for singing and understanding, a hundred worlds to discover, a hundred worlds [...]

Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear, Your head like the golden-rod, And we will go sailing away from here To the beautiful land of Nod. –Ella Wheeler Wilcox Our nighttime routine is sweet, though not exactly simple. When Claire protests bedtime (she’s in bed no later than 7:45 p.m.), we go to the [...]

I really wanted to quote the entire article here, but out of respect for copyright I haven’t. It’s an intelligent article about the “cherish every moment” pressure and frenzy that accompanies parenting. The author portrays mindfulness — at least, what I attempt and occasionally manage to experience — beautifully. There are two different types of [...]

The greatest poem ever known Is one all poets have outgrown: The poetry, innate, untold, Of being only four years old. –Christopher Morley, To a Child