My wife went out for a walk with her sister for a few hours, and Smallsteps and I stayed at home, pottering about, playing some games and then with the camera in the garden. She gave me a tour of the flowers, naming each one in turn, then correcting herself if she had the wrong name. Her grandmother has taught her most of this, sending her pressed flowers every summer in the post with the name of it under plastic contact. Some grandparents are great.
However, the flowers aside, what we also did was "analyze" song lyrics to try and work out what the meaning might be behind parts of it. This isn't an exercise in actually knowing what it is, it is about helping Smallsteps understand metaphors better, especially in English. It is a challenge to teach metaphorical speech in English naturally, when I am about the only one who speaks with her in English often, and my speech isn't very rich these days.
We analyzed "Blackbird" by the Beatles, as she has just learned all the lyrics and is enjoying singing it. She has liked the Beatles since she was a toddler, so she knows many of the songs, but not all of the lyrics. But, especially since she has started playing the piano this year, she is more keen on understanding different parts of the music. She is doing pretty well.
Now, as said, this isn't about being correct, it is about laterally thinking through the words and working out what other meanings it might have. We talked each line through, and settled on a person who felt that they weren't good enough, that they were sad and didn't feel they could reach their potential. But, realized that even though they were broken, that they were different, they could still learn to be great, not caring about what others thought of them.
She was happy.
After she went to bed, I looked into what MacCartney was actually writing about, and we were not even close, but also not entirely wrong. It is about the civil rights movement in the US, and in particular, the Little Rock Nine in Arkansas. One day I will tell her more about racism, but it is not the time yet - she will likely be introduced to it soon enough, as a half Finnish kid.
These "games" that we play are a lot of fun, and she really gets into them, as she tries to workout meanings, or how to explain things that she doesn't fully understand, or just add new words into her vocabulary. A lot of what we do is educational in some way, but it also leads to heaps of great conversations and laughs, and none of it feels like a lesson. If anything, it feels like an "adult" conversation.
The other day I was introduced to a friend of a friend, and she was talking about her kids and asked if we had seen the latest about what happened on "Bluey". She was shocked that I had never seen it and was almost judgmental that I "deprived" my daughter of the experience. It was kind of funny, because my friend then said,
"Smallsteps (using her real name) doesn't watch much TV, does she? We are planning to do the same with ours."
It often feels these days that many parents don't have time for their kids. Or perhaps they feel that their kids don't need them as much, because they aren't demanding their attention when they are sitting on a screen. Whatever it is, I don't think Smallsteps is being deprived, and I don't think that she is missing out on experience. Quite the opposite. She gets to listen to good music, have rich discussions, and get plenty of time with us for hugs and kisses, whenever she wants and needs.
She might be the last one standing. But I hope not. I think that the tide might be turning in the minds of some, especially as more research comes out about the harm that we have done to children by sticking them in front of screens too early. For many, the damage might be done and irreparable.
Hopefully they can still fly with broken wings.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]