Getting out of the house is not my strong suit, nor is it anyone else’s in the family, but a shift has happened recently, where everyone does what they need to do to leave without being told (??) It’s definitely a new development.
Over this past year I did not push much for going anywhere; all three boys were in some form of agreement to leave, but that still meant me doing most of the directing and helping.
Yesterday Finn announced he was ready to go outside, and got his socks, shoes and coat on before anyone else had started getting their gear on. He asked us a few times to follow suit, as he was itching to go. After awhile he said he was frustrated that we weren’t moving forward.
I acknowledged his feelings of frustration, and offered a a stragedy that may help us all now and future outings, which is coordination. But the real gem of this experience is kids are capable, and when they are given the chance to do things for themselves on their own timetable, be they do it! Maybe not as soon as I’d like, but I wonder if me pushing all those years before has caused the timeline to lengthen. I wouldn’t be surprised as I was notorious as a child for slowing things down when I felt under pressure to “hurry up.”
Learning on their timetable is both important for their synthesized understanding of how to be self motivated, but it’s also really fun to watch them “get” these life skills by living and doing life at their own pace!
