putting things away

I noticed during dinner that Aimée and Hidal had left the chalk out on the pavement. I made a mental note to divert them right after dinner to put it away. (The timing of a request can make a profound difference in how the request is received.)

Hidal is a boy that likes to be in motion, talks a lot, and changes his mind quickly. You could even (conservatively) say that he is a victim of the restless monkey mind. He is also smart, and knows how to work situations to his benefit. While Aimée did a remarkably efficient job picking up pieces of chalk, Hidal took a long time to put his shirt on. (Here’s what I did not do: tell him to hurry up or tell Aimée to leave half of it undone. These reactions might discourage him.) I helped him with the shirt. Aimée suddenly had to run to the bathroom, and there were fortunately a few pieces still left. Hidal dutifully took care of those.

I’m not sure if he was intentionally dragging his feet, but I can bet that Hidal knows how to avoid work if he wants. I just want him to make some contribution, to reinforce the principle of caring for our things. I don’t care if he does an equal share, because I know that a five-year-old’s awareness has only a vague understanding of quantity anyway. I also know that for Hidal’s temperament, doing a little cleanup may require much more inner work than Aimée’s doing the whole job. It’s really the inner work that matters, isn’t it?