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Friday, October 10, 2008

anxiety, greening


yesterday my son's teacher mentioned that he seemed anxious, which is what i have been noting for a while, and which makes me very sad. so, we will try harder to make him feel secure and confident. time to amp up the calm and happiness around here, and keep adult concerns hidden away from little people.

walking down the very steep hill from miles' school today we heard a crazy loud noise. it was two middle schoolers zooming down the middle of 23rd street sitting down on skateboards. and then one more came by, i dunno, maybe at 40 mph? is that possible? really fast, with huge serious smiles on theire faces and i had to laugh out loud in amazement. they were flying. sledding. rocketing.

this morning i and 2 others from the starr king greening committee put up a display of photos from other schools around the city showing various ways to green the schoolyard. composting, butterfly gardens, synthetic grass, vegetables, dry creek beds, goldfish ponds, outdoor classrooms. we pasted up a background of green and blue construction paper while maya roamed the school cafeteria finding books and spilling milk, and eventually drawing what looked exactly like a fish skeleton on the asphalt with chalk. we put a sign up saying "schoolyard greening, what do YOU want to see?" along with a flyer for a community meeting next week. i found myself feeling inordinately proud of this little effort. i will be a small part of moving things forward towards health, fun, nature, sustainability for this group of kids and it is a good feeling.

i keep reminding myself that miles was shy when he started preschool. they said he was a quiet observer there, as is right now at school and at his after school program. i see so many kids playing happy and relaxed and i want him to feel that way too. he was the wacky loud and happy king of preschool by june of last year. but it might not be so easy. his daddy was a very shy kid. my dad says he was too. and i remember that excruciating feeling of switching schools and wondering what everyone was thinking about me, the new girl. yuchhhh.

maybe the green schoolyard will help a little. and time, of course.

bye

1 comment:

Cassie said...

I'm sorry he's feeling anxious but I bet it helps that you are getting involved in his school community. If he sees you are connected to his school he might start feeling more at ease.

I too joined Nina's school's Go Green committee and I'm co-leading a student eco club at my elementary school -it feels good to be doing something, right?

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