When I chose the word LEARN in January, I saw myself learning all sorts of new things this year. In addition to learning to complete some of the projects piled in my studio, I am working on learning more about the software for my new Silhouette and of course finally taking the Jessica Sprague PhotoShop courses I purchased last summer. In January, I embarked on a path to teach myself to knit. Now, at that time, I wasn't too busy with my jobs and the kids were out of school. Every night I see that bag with my little tiny piece of knitting in it, sitting next to my bed, begging me to learn my second knitting stitch. But every night, I have to tell it, "Not tonight!" Working late into the night with my transcription job doesn't give me much time to sit and teach myself to knit. But I do have more time during the days for Jake and other projects when I can finish the typing at night, so I guess I'm just prioritizing.
After listening to Ali talk about the different ways our words may surprise us, I realized that I am not the only one around here who is learning this year. Jake is in his first year of preschool and is learning how to write his name, what all the letters are, what a tornado is, how to get along with other kids his own age and maybe, if we're lucky, he's learning that we aren't trying to poison him every time we gently coax (force) him to try new foods that he ends up loving...the Tomato Basil Soup from Costco is now a favorite, even with the "little green things."
And then there's Delaney, sadly, a big learning point for her this year is disappointment. She is learning to deal with not being chosen for things and how to deal with being left out. I know that these lessons will serve her well, especially with middle school just around the corner. But as a mom, I'd rather have my teeth pulled without anesthetic than hear that she has another disappointment this year. She is so strong and is dealing very well with all this stuff. For her, art is a calming distraction from real life. In November, she began taking art lessons and it has been a great experience. Her teacher, Jen, is a professional artist who has taught art to kids for years. She just opened her in-home studio and Delaney was one of her first students. Delaney has loved learning, in an in depth way, sketching, painting and mixed media.
After listening to Ali, I thought more about my word, LEARN! As Ali said, we should all look around us and see how our word works in the world. Now, I'm only looking around my own home, but I can see my word touching all of us!
Thanks, Ali! And if any of you would like to join in the One Little Word class, just click the button above for more information. You can join anytime until December 2012, and it isn't difficult to catch up on the prompts. But don't feel like you have to cram them all in, it's a self paced class and I'm trying to remember to take my time and enjoy my word and the slivers of time that I carve out to spend on this project....
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