Madison seems to have left behind the edgy, hair-trigger, hyper-sensitive, perfectionistic, prickly phase that started at 4 and had its peak from 5-6. (One wonders if it had not a little to do with being in school.) She is still somewhat more sensitive than the average child, but overall she is relaxed, warm, and go-with-the-flow. She's so incredibly willing to be intimate without reservations, now. She has confidence in herself and her abilities, and accepts her limitations (and things she needs to work on, like spelling and handwriting) with good humor.
She told me yesterday (out of the blue) that at 12 she envisions herself confident, well-spoken, and able to cook a full-course meal easily. Yesterday when I was making blueberry scones from my Cook's Illustrated magazine, Madison started reading the article and analysis that always accompanies the recipe. She loved reading all about the various ways the author had varied the recipe to see what the effect would be, and the author's impression of what caused the various effects. I mentioned that this is why Cook's Illustrated is the only cooking magazine I'd ever want to read. "I love the theory," I said.
And she replied, "Yes! The THEORY! That's why I like about it, too. Can I just sit down and read your Cook's Illustrated any time? I want to find some good meat recipes. You know, just plain meat. But fancy."
"Plain, but fancy? At the same time? Can something be plain and fancy at the same time?" I asked.
After a short pause, she replied, "Well, sure. Like, take the furniture that you like. You like plain lines, not fancy with curlicues or gargoyles carved into it or wild colors. You like beautiful wood, nice leather, something comfortable and plain and clean. But that's fancy furniture, see?"
Who knew she was paying such close attention to our arts-and-crafts style?
Last night after Ella went to bed a little early, Madison wanted to talk with me and David about philosophy. So we talked about the different schools of thought regarding the concept "soul" -- how the various religions regard it, and how nonreligious folks can define it validly. She said that she wanted to use it to mean the "unconsious ideas and habits that a person has." David talked about how he sees it as the aspect of the person that values, and I offered that it's the aspect of the person that encompasses his likes and dislikes. I ended up privately agreeing with David, but didn't talk about it because I wanted her to see that each person must define her own concepts herself, and I didn't want to muddy that up with switching my definition to be closer to David's, right then.
If anyone knows of a good intro to philosophy, or intro to the history of philosophy book, either specifically for children or one that Madison could read, PLEASE let me know.
And Ella, well, Ella is even more of the eager, active, good-natured person that she has always been. She's a bit more eager to have a good time than to work at getting better at things she needs to work at, and she's still apt to put up a little bit of a fuss when she's made so much of a mess that cleaning it up seems overwhelming. But that's not different from any other 6-year-old. She's so happy to see the good in everything, the fun in everything. She's definitely a glass-half-full kind of person. She has always liked the Magic School Bus series and other science kind of nonfiction, but she's really getting into that with zeal lately. She loved the nature camp, and noticing lots of small details about things and filing them away. She loves beautiful things, she'd fill the house with flowers if she could. She'd cook all day. She learned really well to ride a bike this summer, and there's just no stopping her. She'll keep her hair in curlers for hours just to look like Shirley Temple for her dad when he gets home. She's enthustiastic and precise in karate class. There is no problem getting her to practice piano. She'll put on the iPod and listen and listen to the Bach Children's Chorus recording that Madison has been practicing to in preparation for participating this fall -- good thing they also have a Mozart Children's Chorus preparatory program for ages 5-8 so Ella can be in it as well.
I never, ever want this to end. Relaxed, peaceful, enthusiastic, healthy, happy. I try not to think about some future teenaged angst where I'm mourning this time. We're mostly just snuggling in and enjoying it.
3 comments:
I didn't study it myself, but some people liked "Is Your Bed Still There When You Close The Door?" by Jane Healy, which is out of print but available cheap.
I also see that on Amazon there's a book, Philosophy for Kids, by David White. You can "search inside the book" to see if you think it would be suitable.
Thanks, John! I checked out both on Amazon and ordered the Healy book because as you said, it was cheap.
The White book looked really interesting as well. Adrienne, any interest in ordering it for the Webster library? Apparently White also has a sequel called The Examined Life. Looks very good.
Post a Comment