Here we are in the age of boundaried chaos (13th Amendment, chaos & carnage & forts, Dorothy Parker & kitties).
Telly
PBS Kids’ The Odd Squad is their current love. At first, I would question them about what they learned afterward. But now, I watch them finish, then race off to create their own games complete with codes and maps and quests and problems to solve. I love it.
Bible
We talked about the high time for Israel - the reign of the three kings of the United Kingdom of Israel (Saul, David, Solomon). We began talking about the worship of Baal and the role of idols during this time.
History
I recapped the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Then we watched some of Ava DuVernay’s documentary about one of them. I won’t tell you which one it’s about. It’s called The 13th. The way it details the rise of the KKK and the role Birth of a Nation played in positioning them as protagonists and saviors is chilling, horrifying, and sadly relevant to the ways that some figures today are portrayed in sympathetic, hero-like contexts.
Various figures talk about America’s relationship with incarceration and its explosion at key points between the Civil War and modern times. Twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners are incarcerated in the U.S.
Let that one roll around your head.
Chaos
It’s amazing how much carnage a pair of boys can create out of pillows and blankets. “It’s a fort,” one of them explained to me unnecessarily.
The forgotten
An unnamed child left their Chromebook and math book in the Commons area at school. This left them unable to perform certain tasks and assignments. This left me feeling a feeling other than happiness.
More _____
It’s amazing how much carnage a pair of boys can create out of art supplies. “We’re doing an art project,” one of them explained to me unnecessarily.
Kitty
I found three boys on the front porch caring for five kittens. There was probably other things they could have been doing. But this seemed like a good thing for the moment.
Analysis of benefits
Often there are consequences to choices. But that phrasing has a negative tone. There are also benefits to certain states of being, such as Boundaried Chaos (I coined the term).
We have bottomless supplies of art supplies and books around our living quarters and beyond, and it is unlikely to change.
The benefit can be seen below.
Do I still get frustrated, irritated, and yes, angry over markers going missing and caps not being put back on?
Sadly, yes, I do.
But I am also a work in progress. I will continue learning and improving. And helping children through gateways of learning, discovery, and imagination together.
I will never grow weary of this sight.
Short story - Here We Are by Dorothy Parker (1931)
We read this together. A great story by one of the 20th century’s sharpest writers. The tale is almost all dialogue between a fresh-married couple on the train to New York City for the first night of their honeymoon.
Their exchange becomes increasingly uncomfortable and hilarious; this is how things escalate. This is how small things blow up into big things. This is how relationships can explode or implode from the beginning.
They’re bickering and fighting, arguing amidst tight smiles and loaded words, and where do things end up in this verbal purgatory to kick off their marriage? Will things end? Will they work things out? Will everything get better? Want a clear answer, as the train rolls in on honeymoon night?
Well, here they are. Here we are, and this is life. Present and figure, in all its humor and tragedy and connection and callousness and care wrapped up. Here we are.
Snappy dialogue, escalating tensions, newlyweds on a train…ingredients for a classic short story. And it is such one.
Miscellanous
A 2-year old helped his 14-year old sister make lunch.
A 2- and 5-year old read Berenstain Bears books together on the couch.
The same pair did math together, counting and organizing Sharpies after their art project collaboration (see above).
A 14-year old worked on finishing and packing orders for her Etsy shop.
Two older children used less discretion than I think they imagined in making hot chocolate for themselves. One, like his grandfather, drank with a straw.
An anonymous boy who exerted great energy on fort-building, art projects, and Sharpie-counting fell asleep on his own, on the couch.
The same boy woke up and toddled over to me. I picked him up, he wrapped his little arms around, and went back to slumber. This came while I was preparing supper. Greatful though I was for this, it did not assist in my ability to prepare food.
