Comments on: Super Powers

By: Cottage Magpie

Cottage Magpie — Fri, 04 May 2007 19:44:40 +0000

I’m so completely outraged at the teacher in this story! Fantasy and imagination are so important. We’re all in such a hurry to make sure our kids can do numbers and know facts–what happens when they all grow up and have no imagination? No new inventions, no new solutions, no leaps across the mental abyss that create new ideas, new advances.

Hmph. *This* is why I homeschool, dangit!

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It certainly is a reason to homeschool! This is our second year of “homeschooling” and we’re loving it! ~W

By: babette

babette — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:02:19 +0000

You DO homeschool! Let’s compare notes!

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I do! Kinda… I’m working on an email that should be in your inbox once you get home from visiting your sweet grandbaby. ~W

By: cindy

cindy — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:49:48 +0000

This was the first Christmas that my girls absolutely KNEW about Santa….Yea, I know they’re old enough, and they knew before, but…..so, anyway, it wasn’t as fun. I guess growing up isn’t fun all the time, but keeping our super powers is just one way to keep life magical! Of course, one of my super powers is communicating with the squirrels and birds. And my dear husband truly thinks the cardinals and chickadees are really answering him. These are the things that keep life down here on earth WONDERful. Thank you for the magical story. It made my morning, since one of my friends just left for Kodiak….sadness.

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Oh, I’m so sorry about your friend leaving. That does make it difficult! ~W

By: Kim Sherrod

Kim Sherrod — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:49:26 +0000

You have won!!! I am thrilled to say! Come see me!

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Oh! Yippee!! ~W

By: sulu-design

sulu-design — Tue, 01 May 2007 02:31:35 +0000

Moving words - I love it when you post like this. You seem to have nurtured the same sense of wonder and magic in your son that my father was so determined to foster in his children. It’s quite touching. Poo to that teacher, and thanks for doing such a wonderful parenting job - we all benefit from that.

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Thank you, Susan. Magic and wonder are hard to come by in our world, eh? So, we work at it! ~W

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:39:41 +0000

Ouch. A kindergarten teacher with no sense of imagination, now that’s a pity!

Very poetic post. Never lose your sense of child-like enthusiasm, those are indeed super powers!

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I’m trying, I’m trying! ~W

By: HG

HG — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:54:35 +0000

Gorgeous. That K teacher was a provincial shrew. And I wonder why so many of Puck’s acquaintances seem not to have imagination.
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I had a permanent ache in my stomach for a year. What she did to our child in that year was absolutely appalling. And when he was no longer in her class the next year, (he was the ONLY child who did not loop with her to 1st grade) she found a new target and proceeded to reign hell down in that family’s life.

We once bumped into her at a Costco, a few years later—she was all pleasant and sweet and I stood there aghast that she could be so nonchalant about what happened. ~W

By: Miz S

Miz S — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:03:48 +0000

With a K teacher like that, no wonder you ended up homeschooling. I love children’s sense of the imaginary–it is truly a magical phase of life. And I love how you use it here to make a bigger point about faith and spirituality. Even though I had to look up “immanent” because I am a dumb ass.

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Kindergarten was hell. The stories I can tell. It culminated with a trip to a prominent child psychologist (at the school’s pressuring for testing–we refused to let him be evaluated by just anyone) who took one look at our child and said, “I deal with troubled youth and children with pathologies every day–your child isn’t one of them.” And then he looked at my child and said, “I understand that you’ve been giving your teachers a run for their money because you’re smarter than they are. You need to stop this! I don’t want to hear of you doing this any more and your parents can call me whenever they need to!”

As for “dumb ass”… hardly. Nobody but stuffy academics use those phrases in real life. Stuffy academics and pretentious Seminary students! If memory serves, that was not the original phrase in this piece. However, because it was originally a piece I submitted for a psych course in Seminary, I changed my phrasing a wee bit… worried that my writing didn’t have the “academic” appeal it needed. In fact, that’s been the charge against me from the beginning. “You’re so approachable” was code for, “You don’t use big enough words” which was, in turn, code for “You’re out of your league here.” I’ve always regretted my choice of graduate school and program, because they were more intent on using those words than really making meaning. Anyhow, I’ve always thought the substitution in phrasing was a huge cop-out on my part. Which would make me the dumb ass! (and at this point, Vicki will be making copious notes about my mental health!) ~W

By: Lorien

Lorien — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:49:01 +0000

Unbelievably sweet and poignant. My daughter’s Waldorf Kindergarten teacher would have loved you. At our house, it is Fairies, Leprechauns, Saint Nick, Grass elves and Mother Rosemary who have been known to leave us timely surprises and treasures. I think my daughter is starting to grasp that it’s me making the magic, but she is too wise to put a stop to it!

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Oh, smart cookies, your girl! There is something to continuing even though your awareness has changed. Power in tradition, I think! : D~W

By: Vanessa V

Vanessa V — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:36:04 +0000

Psst, You are a Winner!

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Oh! Yipeee!!! ~W