Sorting through the detritus of my life.

Today I have been editing my brain and throwing away the unnecessary and trivial. This is a very hard process. To often I wander and can not keep up with the task. I find that I have very little time for the trivial people in my life. As you age, you need to sort your friends as well as your old clothes and detritus of your life. Cast out the ones that don't fit or are boring. Or, at least, limit the time spent there. Something happens to people as they age. Some continue to grow and some don't. A child will grow and grow and then suddenly their ideas stop. They stop doing things in a new ways and searching for adventure. The searching out comes to a standstill. They don't continue as adults with this incredible yearning for creativity and knowledge. They stop reading, observing life, and wondering WHY. The adults in a child's life must help and encourage the child to continue to search for new ideas and identities. To help them figure out how things work, why birds fly, where rocks come from, etc.

When I taught school (100 million years ago) I would spot the older children whose light had gone out. It could be ignited again, but it was very hard to get it going. Usually there had been some setback with this person. Some tragedy or reprimand to stop the creative thought process. Lots of encouragement and teasing and laughter could bring it back for short periods of time.

This task of sorting must go on everyday. Thinking heavy thoughts and organizing them into some kind of order gets me up in the morning with a clear mind. If I let this go for a few days there is a sliding back of momentum. Anyway, this is what I am thinking about today.

Sadie says Goodbye

Sadie had such a serious look on her face when Steve and I pulled out of Glasgow Street to go back to Colorado. We will miss you SweetPea. We will come back soon.

Katherine and Sadie

Here you are trying to reach your toes.

A Wild Walk on the Beach

Hey there Sadie,


Here we go....a trip down the beach. A beautiful day for a walk with Steve, Katherine, Sadie and the BOB. Coffee and lunch at Pannikins and shopping at the Carlsbad Quilt shop on the last day it was open with 50% off sales. So much California fun. I can't wait until you can run unhindered down the beach and collect rocks and sea shells and jump in puddles with the wind in your hair and many dogs following you. I think you may be a dog whisperer or maybe a violin player. Ha.

7. Teach your children to be safe. This can be done very gently the first time and more forceful when they don't get it. Fire, street safety, the whole stranger thing, walking between parked cars, swimming pools, mountain lions, bears, snakes, spiders, are just a beginning to the long list of things that need to be taught.

8. Children need to learn water safety. Go with them to swim. Enroll them in lessons. It is better that you don't teach them yourself. Watch them around all water. They need the competition of group lessons with friends if possible. Katherine taught me: "Never turn your back on the Ocean."

9. Foals are taught Imprint Training. It is a good lesson for children too. In this training a foal is touched everywhere, ears, feet, eyes, nose, all along their back, belly, legs, etc. This is a safety for when the horse is grown and can be dangerous if it is spooked. Your child will know that she is loved by the way you touch her. Remember that they will grow, possibly bigger and stronger than you are. (I know---this is hard to imagine.)

10. It really is OK to let them cry. (For a very short period of time.)

11. Remember gerbils are rodents. (Just had to ad that.)

Continued: More to follow, if, I still have readers.

Here are some of the things that I know about children:

1. When a child is met with a rebuke it sets the child back. A cruel word, a slap, a rude push, even sarcasm, can stop learning for a brief time. Depending on how severe the rebuke is will set the time it takes to recover. Some children will stop learning forever when bad things happen.

2. Children have amazing minds. You must listen to what they have to say. Often they know more than you do. Children are in tuned to spirits that adults are not privileged to.

3. They need to draw every day. Eye-hand coordination is learned faster. You can not teach them to draw. When I was teaching, I always told my students that I could not see into their heads and I had no idea what they saw or what they were thinking. Children actually think sometimes that adults know what they are thinking. So this was always an enlightenment for them that I could not read their minds. This I know: Art can not be taught. Tell them to look and always draw their own dreams.

4. Children need to be held and touched in a loving manner. They need their backs rubbed and feet rubbed and fingers held and faces kissed.

5. Laughter and play and reading and sunshine are very important also. Being outside a good part of the day should be a requirement of the school system. Turn off the TV. Go outside.

6. Teach them what you know and what is important to you.

MORE LATER...............

Sadie June Burnett - born October 18, 2009. She came into the world and instantly became her own person. There is so much hope in a tiny little baby. My first grandchild takes me into another realm. Things that went before can never be the same. A whole new philosophy is in the creation. Thought processes have to be changed, added to and improved on. A tiny personality is now taking over the family. This is a momentous event. The pressure is on. A child must be taking care of very carefully and introduced to the world in an exciting way. Sadie must be taught to live creatively in a world that teaches conformity. More to come..................