My kids are already out of the habit of doing school work all day. All it took was a week and a half of summer, and just like that any amount of writing feels like a chore!! I have been having each of them complete one academic thing a day. Some days that’s just reading books, and that is probably their favorite because they are doing that already. However, one of my kids would really benefit from writing more frequently. Spelling and punctuation has never come easily to this kid, so I am having this kid write letters to people in our family. I am a big fan of sending letters to people anyway, so this has been an easy assignment to give, except for when this kid started saying, “I can’t do it all, it’s too much!!” Instead of thinking of the joy of sharing a message, my cute child was overburdened with the desire to make sure it’s perfect, so they just do not want to do any of it. So, instead of feeling overwhelmed by the whole, big assignment, we’ve been doing just one line, and going from there.
One of our favorite Shel Silverstein poems is Melinda Mae. She’s a little girl that says she’s going to eat a whale, a seemingly impossible task. But then, she does, one bite at a time. She’s an old woman by the time she’s done it, but she does it!! What a fantastic lesson for us all!
This simple idea of just starting with one line has been liberating to this particular kid, and to me too. I have high hopes of writing in my journal, but often feel like there is too much to include, so I don’t even start. By just giving myself permission to write only one line, I end up being more concise with what I want to say, and write more frequently. My kids will do the same thing in their journals too.
While I realize that this is not a new concept, it has really freed up the burden my kids have felt to get their chores done. Don’t want to empty the dishwasher? (who does?) Put a timer for 4 minutes and beat the timer! Just the shift in perspective is alleviating. The time will pass anyway. The task will not complete itself. Give yourself a minute to start, or 5 or 15 if that is what you need. Try bite sized pieces.
The time will pass anyway, one line at a time is how we get our story written, so get to writing!
Would you like this positivity in your inbox? 🙂 We will email you a couple times a month so you can see the new posts! Don't worry we also don't like spam!
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Kayleen
