My son likes to play in gravel. He also likes the lava rock that my parents have at their house. Because he recently learned to walk, he has become quite familiar with falling on both of these surfaces. I don't know if you have ever fallen on gravel, but it hurts. Falling on lava rock probably hurts twice as much. My son still walks on it, despite falling over and over again on it and hitting his knees and hands. Before anyone calls CPS, it doesn't leave any bruises or cuts, and he doesn't cry, but he does make a sound that I call "determined ouch."
The kid does this every time he falls, because he always gets back up on his own. He doesn't wait for someone to come coddle him or pick him up, but he hikes his butt in the air and pushes up with his hands and stands so he can walk again. I see this tenacity and wonder if he will sustain this mindset of not giving up. How often do we as adults fall on the lava rocks of life and just sit there until someone comes to get us?
Where I work, we talk a lot about growth mindset and developing the agency of students. I know that much of my personal experience with these two ideas comes from my upbringing here in Putnam County. We are taught to get back up, to work harder, to never settle, etc... I hope that in the past 20 years, those values haven't gone away and that everyone will support us as we try to teach our son the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment