So the kids and I had a pretty cool experience yesterday. They were in the backyard swinging and Erik spotted two deer on the trail. They waved to me to come out so we could walk over and see them better. I was reluctant because I was exhausted. I had been up late the night before and was tiiiired. But I didn't want to be a party pooper and thought we would just be walking across the street. So I put on my clogs and out we went.
When we got across the street they weren't there. After looking around we found them out in the road walking up the hill, so we took off following them. We got up the hill and lost them again. The kids started pretending they were detectives and looking for clues. Erik thought he spotted deer tracks and we found them farther up the hill by the high school parking lot. We followed them in and in a while discovered that they couldn't figure out how to get out. They were backed up against this long fence and kept going back and forth trying to get out. A couple of times they ran smack into the fence trying to get over.
I thought we were probably not helping because we were scaring them. So the kids and I sat down on the curb for a while. I explained that the deer couldn't get out because we were following them and making them nervous. I thought we should leave. The kids both said they were worried about them getting hit by a car or the people bothering them. So we fanned out and tried to force them out of the parking lot. At one point the deer came charging toward Taryn. She started to panic and I told her to make a lot of noise which scared the deer to turn around and they finally jumped over the fence and went into the woods by the golf course. We figured they'd be safe there until night when they could make it back home.
I was so moved by my kids concern for the deer's safety. We have a soft spot for this family of deer and we think these two were the babies we saw last year. I was also grateful that I followed their lead to get out of the house so we could share this experience.
Earlier this year I decided to unschool for the rest of the year. Unschooling means a lot of things but for me right now it means that I'm not going to initiate any schooling. I am going to ask them if they want to continue our reading, but they are free to say no to anything. I've always loved the idea but have been afraid to follow it. So I figured now is better than later.
Anyway. After this experience with the deer, Erik came home and decided to write about it. It turned into a cute 2 page story.
4 comments:
how cool!! i love that you guys have so many cool experiences with these deer. that will be something they remember for a long time. i like the idea behind your unschooling, is it so they will learn when they want to learn? i'm trying so hard to teach story some sign language and teach her where her belly button and nose are, she has absolutely no use for it.
So, what is unschooling? I don't get it. Does that mean that they don't have to do anything? I would be afraid to do that with Cole...because he'd be overly content to watch movies all day, everyday.
I'm trying to teach Syd stuff, too...and she'll do something once and then refuse to do it again. Just so we know she can do it, she just chooses NOT to. It's infuriating.
That is so cool, I wish I could have been a more spontaneous mother. I think you are really onto something, we only retain what we are interested in anyway.
Great story! Usually following a whim or crazy desire is not regrettable. :) Good for you.
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