Home school has been at its finest here with a birds nest (despite my best efforts to discourage them) in our front door wreath. Apparently our covered porch is desirable real estate in the avifauna of our tree-lined street. Little one has enjoyed observing the process from egg to bird close up which is great... even though I'll probably have to repaint our door when this is all said and done and the chicks have flown the coop.
Little one is known to process what she has learned in her own hands-on ways and she recently drew an entire bird family and then crafted them a nest in a little basket that she carried around with her for a while. At the same time we were learning about the needs of all living things, such as water, food and air and connecting this information back to our plant and animal friends in nature.
While Little One can recite the list of needs during a structured lesson or even when asked about it out of context, she was a bit stumped when I questioned her about her little paper bird family in the basket nest for whom she had provided care in the form of kisses, songs, and walks. "What do these little birds need to survive?" I asked. After a moment of thought came a clear and confident response, "They need mommy."
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| Baby bird |
It doesn't matter if we're studying science or art, for my youngest child the story always condenses and connects to a single thing. She always finds her way back to mothers, the devastating loss of her first mother and the subsequent gain of a new mother, the love and care of a mother or the lack thereof, and the indefinable qualities of mothering and being mothered. Her earliest experiences have led her to believe that without the protective and devoted wings of a mother our physiological and safety needs cannot be met, so if she were revising Maslow's hierarchy, having a mother would be at its base.
Little chick, I cannot heal your primal wound, but my wings are yours for as long as you need them.
She's a pretty awesome girl
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