Building Trust in our Children: Rhythms and Rainbows
As we know young children have no real sense of time ... yet.
However they do have a sense and a need for rhythm. Rhythm and healthy routines build a sense of trust for children as by knowing what comes next and that happening they are learning to trust the world.
Teaching kids these kinds of things is not a direct conversation at this age. Instead it's something we as parents and teachers create around them. How do we connect them to the natural cycles and rhythms that already exist to support them in their bodies and in the natural world? There is a lot we can do for our children in this way - and it's all worth the effort.
For the last years I've been working mainly with supporting the rhythm of their day (eating, sleeping, etc same time) and at keeping us connected to the rhythms of nature and the seasons. One thing related to rhythms that I've been playing around with since the Spring is the colors (and rhythm) of the days of our week. You might not even have known that every day has a certain color but they do - the color corresponds to the planet that day is associated with. Yes, every day is associated with a planet too (mardi - mars day, sunday...)
So, how does this play into my day to day life and help my children develop trust!!?!
Well, here's what it looks like - every morning I take a silk that matches the color of the day and wrap it around the candle holder in the center of our table. That's it. Just doing that is surprisingly grounding for me and helps days not run into each other as much. Who knew...
My 4 year old loves this - she knows that on yellow day certain things happen predictably and she loves and relaxes into this knowing.
She also has fun with it - without me saying anything she comes down wearing something with the day's color on it. It also helps us eat more variety because we try to eat something at least of that color for breakfast and maybe later if I need some focused inspiration for cooking.
Call me crazy, but at the end of the week we have eaten a rainbow or two, and it feels like overall my children and I are better off for it. So for now (month 4) I'm keeping on with it ...(-:
How do you build rhythm into your days/ weeks? Only do what feeds/delights you as much as possible!
Post from Soulful Mothering Newsletter 2011
