"Were you supposed to be in the pond?" I asked.
"Yes." His voice clearly said, "Duh, mom."
"How do you know?"
"Ms. Lee was standing right there watching us from the other side of the pond."
I was thinking, "So? She was probably wondering what the heck those boys were doing in the pond and what was she going to do about it now?" Aloud, I said, "What did she say when you got over to her?"
"Good job!"
Man, I love that woman. I would have been all afraid that they would get in trouble with their parents, or that I would get in trouble with my boss. I would never have let the kids in the pond, and if they had gone in, I would have scolded them. I think Ms. Lee is a far wiser teacher than I am.
JD had also caught frogs and snakes and even a snake with a fish in it's mouth. He had seen dangerous snakes and even leeches. I bet I heard him say five times that he had been bitten by a snake, but it was just a little bite. There was a turtle claw and some seaweed in his pocket, and the telling of his tale filled nearly every minute until bedtime.
As I listened and watched him I was once again reminded that boys need space to do dangerous things. (Perhaps some girls do as well, but I think they are different kinds of dangerous things.) I don't know why they need to risk life and limb, but they do. I think that's why more boys than girls play battle themed video games. We don't live in a world where there is much room for a boy to run on his own and risk much of anything, but they still have that same urge to test themselves and to explore their physical limits. All that many boys have is video games. I don't imagine that it's quite as satisfying as JD's day of rivers and ponds was.
3 comments:
I think it is important to give them a chance to explore in a safe way. I feel like I am always holding back my inital reaction "No don't do that...." to access if it really is dangerous or just dirty or truly harmless or just not the way I like to do it. It is a little easier with my 4 year old, but Libby (2) still seems like a baby and she is a climber.
You know... with other people's kids I am right with you T! I get so paranoid when they do things... I would LOVE to let them jump in the puddles after it rains... or WHILE it is raining (no lightening of course)... but I know parents would flip out!
My own son.. yeah he does it all :) I even let him climb UP the slide! Much to the chagrin (sp?) of other parents at the playground, "We go UP the stairs and DOWN the slide" as they shoot me the death glare. Yeah, whatever. He's a boy. He needs to go UP the slide. Hmm... this sounds like a topic for my own blog.....
Good for you for allowing JD that freedom!!!
Love ya! Miss you too!!!
I went to a presentation at a conference about this. How daycare is in many ways so awful for boys. THis guy was a proponent of letting boys "rough house" and stuff like that there. And he said something very thought provoking to me. He said that he felt like this was the role of the traditional father- that dads are more apt to teach thier kids to take risks. "go up the slide, climb higher, don't cry just keep going" while moms traditionally teach kids to be cautious "be careful, keep clean, don't get hurt". This is why it is important that kids have both male and female role models growing up- he said. Interesting?!
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