Just A Moment

Lunch is over.  The kids come into the room laughing, talking and bursting with the joys of spring.  You are ready to begin, but they are not. "Quiet, settle." You plead, beg, bark and threaten, and while they do as they are told, it is clear they are in no frame of mind to listen. There is a beautiful world out there and you have intruded. So what do you do? How about doing nothing. What if the first thing you did after lunch was to let the kids put their heads down for five minutes and just relax? Suppose the first part of your routine was to put on some
soothing music and just chill for a few moments. Oh, I can hear the objections from where I am sitting. "What do you mean do nothing?" "I have an important lesson to teach." "I already don't have enough time, and you're telling me to waste the first part of my afternoon." 

Consider this as the Tao Of After Recess. You spend time trying to get your kids do something they are not ready to do, getting yourself upset and rattling them more. Does it not make just a little sense to flow with the stream, rather than battling against it? I'm not talking about taking the afternoon off and lying in the field picking dandelions, although once in awhile that wouldn't be a bad idea also. I'm suggesting that you stop fussing and fighting and just let go for a few moments before barging ahead into the program. 

When I did this with my kids, they first thought it was a silly thing to do. Then they started to accept it, and later enjoyed the calm after the storm. There were rules though. No talking, no reading, no anything. Just be for five minutes. 

Pretty soon  nobody dares disturb the silence, and when it's over they are usually more than happy to start to play your game again and get to work. Try it a couple of times. You just may turn it into part of your agenda.