The kids gathered in a semi circle in front of a row of tables. The mothers gathered behind. As the class started, I was able to witness an interesting dynamic at work.
The teacher would ask a question. The kids would stare at her. The teacher would rephrase the question. The kids would stare at her. Behind the kids, the mothers grew fidgety. At first, they swayed from foot to foot or crossed their arms. Pretty soon, though, the bolder moms were reaching out and poking their kids. Or if they couldn't reach them, they were waving to get their attention and mouthing the answers to them. The mom next to me wanted her son to answer every question.
My kids weren't answering questions either, which was a little discouraging since we recently finished a science chapter on the water cycle and they should have known all the answers. Nevertheless, I tried to restrain myself from prodding them during the class.
As I watched the other moms I wondered... were they so visibly flustered because they wanted their kids to participate, or to be the smartest, or to succeed? I can't say for sure, since I don't know them, but I got the feeling it was more about Mom wanting to feel like she had succeeded in producing brilliant, articulate, confident children.
Like a mother bird pushing her young out of the nest, not to let them fly, but to show the world... Look what I made!
1 comment:
You nailed it Patty! I help coach Hope's soccer team. Last Saturday we lost to the rival team. Our coach told the girls at halftime that he didn't care if they won or lost. After the game he was extremely upset, told them how terrible they played and threatened to make them run more this week. My take? I think that he was thinking about how he hated to face the other team's coach later in the weak. These girls had "made him look bad" Pride rears it's ugly head far too often!
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