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The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I cannot go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree, but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
--Theodore Roethke
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Joy's Updates - Straight from the Horse's Mouth.
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Friday, May 05, 2006
Grandmothering
I've kept Brendan several times lately. He stayed here during the weekend while his parents went to Atlanta to Melissa's brother's wedding. It rained most of the weekend, so we didn't get to go to the park or do much outside. He did run through the back yard at Mother's Saturday and in my yard Sunday. Brendan loves being outside no matter what the weather. He's like a frisky wee pony (as I call him sometimes as well as a cheeky wee monkey - got it from Craig Ferguson) who has his freedom in the great outdoors. I'm glad and hope he always enjoys being active.
I highly recommend the Beatrix Potter DVD collection. They were produced for British TV and are wonderful. I've seen all of them several times. The animation is right from the illustrations in Potter's stories. Hugh Laurie does the voice for Johnny Townmouse, and Patricia Routledge is the voice of one of the adult cat cousins. When recommending children's movies, I keep in mind something that bears repeated viewing. This one does. I can handle The Aristocats several times, too, which he also likes. The Teletubbies wear a little thin, but I believe watching TV or movies with children needs to be active and not passive, so I use them as learning tools. (gosh, that sounded like a teacher!) They can learn basic skills at first and critical viewing as they get older. I can ask him what the Teletubbies are doing, comment on objects, actions, characters (all of whom I know now), and other things. Brendan decided the green one was named Gupsy, and when we watched them again this time he was here, he looked at me and said, "They call him Dispsy." I said, "Yes, but we call him Gupsy," so from then on he was "Dipsy who we call Gupsy."
When I read books to children, I like to discuss the story, help them make predictions, see what is on the page, check out the illustrations, and all kinds of things that help them learn to comprehend and appreciate the books. I think it's also good for children to have unstructured play time to explore and do what they want. Brendan plays with magnetic letters and numbers on the refrigerator, plays with his toys and stuffed animals, and as I mentioned before plays outside sometimes directly with me and sometimes exploring on his own while I watch. I love seeing him enjoy the parks, play grounds, and play areas. He enjoys it so much and has interesting comments and questions. He has fun in the bath with the foam letters and numbers and bath toys. What a delightful, happy little boy!
Being a grandparent is pretty wonderful. I like rocking babies and singing to them, so that's really special before bed. He requests songs and snuggles so sweetly. I'm glad he enjoys spending time here because it's fun for me, too.
11:42:00 PM
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