Seizing those Moments

Teachable moments. The education classes I took in college included many discussions about looking for teachable moments - moments when the student's curiosity, observation, or even failure opened the door to a relevant and important discussion. Sometimes these discussions are related to the topic at hand; other times they bridge into another unrelated, yet extremely important topic. It's about prioritizing and knowing when to seize the moment. Seizing that teachable moment is not only vital to teachers, it's also vital to parents. It's something I've tried to discipline myself to do. Stop. Take time. Seize the moment.

Seizing the moment. That practice is not only good for training my children, it's also good for having fun with my children. But it's definitely a practice that I have to continually work on.

Tending to children and training children takes time. Keeping a house in decent (read: good enough, not perfect) order takes time. Being a wife takes time. So making time for fun with the kids can be further down the list of priorities; at least for me, it can. But that is exactly why I should learn to seize the moment, have some fun, and make the memory. Not use it as an excuse to shirk responsibility; but wisely look for times to show my kids I love them and enjoy spending time doing something that they enjoy. Today, we really did have fun seizing the moment (the moment being waiting on a car in the shop)!

This morning, we walked to the park for a picnic while the tire store checked our tires (that we thought were fixed a few weeks ago....) A very nice power-walker offered to take our picture after she saw me wrangling the kids for a snapshot.

Daniel discovered a creek on the way to the park. On the way back, it had become a potential hideout for him and Thomas. Gotta love the imagination!

Getting ready to picnic and play.

Daniel conquered the fireman's pole!

All played out. And the house is quiet... (also known as the calm before the after-school storm!)