Wobbling Blocks

Today I was visiting a school and spent some time in a room watching kindergarteners build with blocks.

Picture this: a bunch of cylinders with smaller triangles and half circles precariously balanced on top.

I watched one little girl in this very situation and longed to approach life more like her.

Now picture this: a little girl reaches to add some blocks to the wonderful array already set up. She knocks over a cylinder with a triangle on top.

What would my reaction be? Honestly, I’d probably be sad or at least self-conscious. I would wonder if anyone saw. I would want to fix the “mistake” I made as quickly as possible.

What did this little girl do? She finished placing the new blocks. Then she swiftly picked up the cylinder and the triangle placing the cylinder upright with the triangle on top. Before it even stopped rocking from her movement she was on to bigger and better things: adding even more blocks to the ever growing structure.

That was the moment I really started paying attention. I saw those blocks wobbling and thought – someone should steady those blocks! I realized that if I were that little girl I would not have moved on until I knew the blocks were in place and would not tip over again.

But, I think her approach was far healthier than mine would have been. Because really, what’s the worst thing that would have happened? The blocks could have fallen again. And she would have picked them up again.

Lesson learned: I’d be better off letting things wobble a little from time to time. Most of the time things will gently rock themselves into place. When they don’t then I can worry about it, or have the proper perspective to know it really isn’t a big deal.

Yay for learning from young children. It makes my heart happy :)