I felt his little, anxious body periodically bump into mine as I sat watching three of his classmates intently picking through the trove of colorful beads I brought from my collection at home. There different approaches and abilities  intrigued me.

I did not really believe that any of them would create anything that could be worn. not really.

Or that they would be able to pass the needle through the beads , or keep the beads from  falling off the other  side once they successfully got the needle in to the bead’ s hole.

They persisted through all of these obstacles with great childlike determination. It was mastering hand eye coordination and the love of having new ways to play all at once.

Logan wasn’t concerned with all this intricacy. He simply wanted to cut string and he wanted me to hold it so he could. I did not argue. Maybe his little face held too much innocence. I did not refuse.

I unwound the beading string from its holder  and held it so he could cut it. There were success moments to recognize as he got his hand to manuever the scissors just right to get the string to snap in two.

I thought how interesting . The girls want to explore  beading beautiful creations and he just wanted to cut string . He was happy with that.

We had repeated moments of seeing each other up close , as I sat eye level. He knew there was  no pressure to perform. I was supporting  his interest  and asking no more of him.

I felt him move away onto another venture . And as quickly he returned with a different curiosity. Can I make a bracelet?

He was impatient to start . I was surprised at his request . And we were out of time. The busses had arrived to take the children home.

All of us reluctantly put these new treasures away with the promise that there would be another time to see what potential lie in the making. It was time to go.

This was a confirmation of how we impact each other, how we learn , how pressure free , how judgement free learning is when we choose it for ourselves. Failure was never part of the equation .

It was again doing something to see how it would be to experience it. I suppose I need these varying scenarios with children of all ages to remind me to stay young at heart, stay innocent in my intentions. Let go of needing to control and master everything. Get to know it as it is.

Be present with it. …eye to eye. Say what you really feel. Ask for what you really want .

Be honest with it. The joy is in the doing . The final product hardly the goal here. I don’t remember so well how they turned out.

It was the feeling the children felt all along the way that gave me pause to reflect and grow.