We awoke this morning to the sound of pouring rain. Having never lived under a metal roof before, we are always amazed at the tremendous sound of rain on the lower roof outside our window.
It also put an end to our plans for a hike in the Hakkoda Mountains. So we have had mellow morning. Katie, Joseph and Matthew found art projects to work on. Patrick used the time for a catch-up in history reading and a nice, long phone visit with a friend back in Washington State. I went back to putting data in the kids' planners.
At lunch, Matthew piped up with a song I had remembered from a class performance and sung for him at bedtime a few times. Mom and Dad, do you remember when this happened? We dressed up in raincoats and carried umbrellas and sang the song on stage. I have no idea what it was really for, just that I must have been in about kindergarten (?). I remembered most of the words of the song all this time.
It gives me pause about the things I choose for my children to memorize. In 35 or more years, these things may still be rattling around in their heads. That's great if what's rattling is Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, or the Song of Songs. Not so great if it's SpongeBob. Thankfully, in our quest to provide the good, the true, and the beautiful, we have made choices in the children's education and media viewing that mean that they will be unlikely to remember much about SpongeBob. B.J. Thomas may be another matter, however.
Post Script:
John didn't remember this 1970 classic, so after lunch I found it on YouTube for him. The kids were highly entertained by the whole presentation. Patrick couldn't believe it was not a joke of some kind. So I thought I'd share a smile (or perhaps a groan) for your Columbus Day (click here).
Oh, we did do something besides study Late 20th Century Entertainment History today. We read the book, Columbus, by Edward and Ingri D'Aulaire.
1 comment:
Of course I remember it! You wore your pale blue print dress with the lowered waistline. It was your Kindergarten Graduation at Shawnee School. (School in our parish began with first grade.)
You had told me ahead of time that you would be singing that song, and I didn't believe you because it was a popular song. (I guess I thought all you could sing was what you would find in some official school singing manual!)
I can still see you standing up on that stage and singing! You were all very cute! You were five years old. Mom
Post a Comment