BLOG: Communication with the right person
I just watched the tension, frustration, and negativity of three whole days dissolve in approximately 2 minutes. It was magic.
For three days I've heard nothing about school from my five-year-old except that they have to rest, which is ridiculous, because she hasn’t napped in two years and over that time has gone to an afternoon preschool, at the same school, where there was no rest time. And they can’t sit up during this rest time, and are limited to ONLY TWO books, and it's a TERRIBLE rule, and school's NO FUN. Hrrumph (arms crossed).
This of course has been a good time for me to take a moment to honor the fact that we are all where we need to be on our own journey.
So the rest time rule seems arbitrary and doesn't make sense to her. Generally, she likes to know and follow the rules. It makes her feel safe and masterful in her own world. But woe the person making or enforcing the rule that arbitrarily squashes her autonomy.
I get it. I thrive when I can do my own thing, too. I've always considered rules a good starting point for negotiation. We need them, but there's often wiggle room.
So we went to school together to discuss the rest time situation with her teacher. Of course, there were parts of the rule that she had misinterpreted and some wiggle room she didn’t know about.
By the end of this short discussion, I could see that the tension held over many days had dissolved.
Well, that was easy. Communication, huh? I don’t know why, but it still strikes me when I witness mountains moved by virtue of communication with the right person.
