What would The Barb do?
Usually it's WWJD...but in this case, I was more interested in what His Mother would have done with cranky, spun-up, bored Nazareth 6 year olds who were in danger of playing with the tools in Joseph's workshop that they KNEW they weren't supposed to touch and no, put that fistful of dates and figs down because you already had your snack and it's almost dinner time and "Jesus, please stop that. There were only 5 in thebowl the last time I checked and now, it's overflowing again.."...and since I imagined all this, I had to go with what I knew...and that is MY MOTHER.
I love the title of today's entry. I've been giggling and enjoying myself within all day and using this question as a measure since the "Amazing Ms. R" seems to have taken a brain break and is dealing with a whopping case of No voice and PMS. SOoooo...started at o'dark thirty downstairs in my basement hauling up my bins and tubs of projects, ideas, and materials. And had a positive thought that at the same time as ensuring that today would not be a horrible, off day repeated, I also was having the chance to weed through more stuff from down there and use or lose it! A win-win-WIN!
So, that is exactly how it went!
Mom would have had snack choices ready, a warm kitchen, lowkey KOMO on the radio (before it was all news and talk) and she would have had stuff for our hands and heads to do----like stick sequins and pins into styrofoam balls, or wind pipecleaners around pinecones and then apply glitter with glue the old fashioned way--with the flat end of a toothpick or a simple baking project or if we were complaining, we could always help her fold towels or match socks. She would have had some game choices--simple, fun to play with a partner or a small group of sibs on the floor or at the dining room table or in the living room. All workable. All fun. All focusing. All real. All good.
And that's what it was. And IT WORKED. I had some help by bringing my drums in today. I used my special prayer drum to call them to prayer the way we do in a sweatlodge or a circle. I used the bodhran to cue them for transitions. And it was fun to use reel and jig time and to see them match the rhythms as they moved. We worked on button blankets for most of the morning with some phonogram and spelling dictation thrown in. We prayed, played, sang, helped, ran, and snacked. Then it was lunch. More of the same with some faith formation and storytime thrown in with some creative visualizations to David Lanz music about being in an enchanted forest during a soft snowfall. We practiced our snowdance, too.
The rest of the day seemed to be peaceable. I enjoyed untying knots in the curtain strings because they weren't even. There is something soothing about completing something as mundane as sharpening pencils, cleaning a whiteboard, and untying knots...right up until the fire alarm went off and the sirens woooo-woooo'd down the hill in response. Then it was time to come home. Squishy showed up at the exact same time, tuckered out and ready for some lovin'.
And so we're back to warm kitchen, towels to fold, KOMO-esque music Christmas-style, and a grateful heart because of one who did it before....and did it right.....