Sunday, May 05, 2013

Learning to Fly


The moment you doubt
whether you can fly,
you cease for ever
to be able to do it.
—J.M. Barrie Peter Pan


I watched a father teaching his son to ride a two wheel bike. The father ran alongside the bike—holding the handlebar with one hand. Often the bike and rider seesawed until the father steadied the bike in an upright position. Then they continued, father and son, running and riding through an empty parking lot.

At one point the father removed his hand, but allowed it to hover above the handlebar—and for a few seconds his child rode the bicycle without any help. Just as the bike began to rock the father took hold of the handlebar and the youngster picked up his pace—and father and son raced to the end of the lot

Releasing children and allowing them to fly is difficult—what if they fall, what if they ignore the map you've laid out in your head?

How often we create the perfect plan and find that the child and the plan are an imperfect fit—they rub against one another.

I recall once hearing a psychologist talking to our group of teachers about how many youngsters seem problematic because they don't seem to fit the family pattern. "Imagine," he said, " the disconnect of being born into a family of total sports fanatics and being a loner who loves spending hours reading. Or how about the family that considers family reading time and board games to represent bliss while their youngster loves being on the move."

Letting someone fly when their flight plan differs—that's the hard part.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home