Week 7: Merfolk

Merfolk was a really good theme for this week as water was so very prevalent. Now it is true that water plays a part in all our outings because we are usually near a small stream or creek, but this was different. It all started for me on Sunday. My family and I joined some others to "go tubing down the Delaware River.". I hadn't been tubing in about 12 years so this was a real treat. 7 adults and 3children had their inner tubes lashed together as we lazily floated down the river on a really really hot day. I think it was close to 100F! The heat wave continued through the week. Curtis was with me through the whole week, but the regular participants were not. R and A were both on vacations to cooler climates and Curtis got to play with H again (3yr old girl), her sitter K(6 yr old girl), and C (4 yr old boy). These are all children Curtis knows and has missed a bit this Summer, so it was good to have them Monday through Wednesday.

I have to admit, having arrived home late from tubing Sunday at an unheard of 11pm Curtis and I were a bit off our game.

I took the children out to Carpenter's Woods as usual. We had a good hike in through the Greene Street Entrance all the way to the foot bridge. The big boys ran all the way up ahead and had so much fun running on the path with abandon. We had our snack on the bench as usual. I was tidying up the snack containers and the children were playing on the fallen logs across the trickle of a stream. C had a bit of a fall and his head went back and landed hard on a pointy rock. Well after getting him to the bench and putting an icepack on his head, I dared to look more closely. There was a small perfectly round hole that looked a bit deeper than a normal cut. I would actually describe it as a gouge. It was like a small pool filled with blood and the word "stitches" popped into my mind. After informing the parents and telling Mom that she really needed to assess the wound herself, we agreed that I would hike back out with the children and meet her at the entrance. I suppose I was running on adrenaline, as I was able to carry C and my back pack all the way out. Thankfully Curtis carried out the food bag and H and K followed along. Mom had to take C to get stitches, three I believe. My first major accident this Summer. I am really glad I had my first aid kit with me and the disposable ice pak. That thing was ice cold for a good twenty minutes. I ordered a bunch of replacements on line. They are pretty inexpensive. I got a bunch for $0.99 a piece.

C was able to return the next afternoon and again on Wednesday morning, brave child. Since we go to the woods in the mornings and C was back with us, I decided not to revisit the accident scene and by 9 30 am I was all packed and ready to take the children on their nature excursion to Kitchen's Lane. Once in the woods and hiking down the trail, worries were cast aside. We take the trail re-route which is a circuitous one with some switchbacks. The main trail is being fortified against erosion. I never cared much for that trail anyway as it is a wide straight line fraught with many jagged rocks. I much prefer the re-route...it is narrow and cozy..canopied with many trees and it winds it's way to just before the foot bridge. The children call it "the way through the underground cavern.". It can get pretty shady in there due to the tree cover..it is lovely to go from the darker coolness into the bright light of the foot bridge. Once across the footbridge, we, nimble as Billy goats, scramble down the mill to "the beach.". There are many dogs and dog owners having a splash. We immediately go to the right several yards, and make base camp on one of the larger rock outcroppings. That's where I set up snack and towels, and the children change into their bathing suits.

H was content to play at the water's edge and splash, pick up rocks and collect the little fresh water clam shells that are strangely everywhere.


But K and Curtis had adventure on their minds. They fashioned walking sticks and made their way across the shallow part of the river to the other side. There they climbed the large boulders until they came to a flatter outcropping. There they found some old cloth and fashioned a teepee. The weather was so very hot, and the water so cool, they were quite comfortable and said they wanted to live there on that rock in that teepee all summer!





Now C, who was supposed to keep his head dry because of his stitches, started across the river in the shallow spot like K and Curtis. He got about halfway when he yelled out that he was stuck. He wasn't moving back and he wasn't moving forward.




When children get stuck in a physical predicament, I usually try to verbally coach them through it or even help them physically but in a way that they can coax themselves out of their position. This allows them the opportunity to gain confidence in their physical movements and become accustomed to the feeling of extending a little beyond their reach. This is the method used at most Steiner schools, I believe. It is definitely the method employed by Helle Heckmann in her Danish preschool, Nokken. Google Heckmann Nokken and you will find a plethora of references describing her program and philosophy. If you want more directly from Helle, check out her video, Das Smal...the Young Ones..Children Ages 1 to 2. I personally find her work fascinating. Here is a link to one of her many papers: http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW3706.pdf


I thought it best to help him back to the shore. When I reached him, he insisted that he could go farther, but that he was just stuck. Then he said something that really touched me, "Ms. Rocksand, I am brave, really!". This really struck a chord with me. Little C really does just get stuck sometimes...he has had some stiffness issues from an infant..so why not help him across. So I said that I would help him if he indeed was feeling brave. He did protest a bit when we got into slightly stronger current, but I felt we really should both be committed at that point. I got him to the other side and he was sooooooooo happy and pleased with himself. K met him at the base of the rock and with such sweetness, consoled him and welcomed him to the rock. He then was able to join in the play in making a teepee with Curtis and K. Then after a while I ferried all three of them, one at a time, back across the river as they were getting tired.




I felt C and I really bonded that morning.