Warning: the video below is not even mildly interesting. It is dull and repetitive and unenlightening, and that’s kind of the point. Alden and I went to the Church Hill playground yesterday afternoon, and instead of sliding, swinging, or observing the acrobatic antics of the older, more nimble kids, Alden decided to answer the timeless question of how many grains of sand it takes to fill up a backhoe scoop.
I do not know what motivated her, but she sat in this very same position doing the exact same thing for 20 minutes. Who knows how long she would have continued if I had not eventually removed her from the sandbox, using my much greater size and strength to best her kicking, screaming self.
She was outraged that I was making her quit the task at hand before the work was done, and she made sure that all the other kids and parents on the playground knew it. I had to absorb some rather unkind stares.
I’m hoping that the endless scooping exercise is indicative of the kind of patience that I lack and the kind of focus that I crave, and not evidence of the kind of intractable stubbornness that makes her mother so difficult to live with.
Wait – I thought we were going to get 20 minutes of this action. 55 seconds hardly gives a sense of how stubborn I really am.
I bet she would have continued until she finished the job. And, you would have had to appeal to Robbi to bring over food and drink.
I call that kind of activity “picking berries”, because it reminds me of the simple, yet fulfilling task of filling a bucket, one berry at a time. There is a certain meditative satisfaction in knowing that the job will get done, simply by continuing it one berry (or teaspoon, or paint dab) at a time.
Very impressive. This definitely bodes well for tenacity in handling other important questions that may arise in the future, such as how many grains of rice fit into gallon-sized ziploc pouch, or the like. It truly is amazing to see little kids concentrate on tasks, and sit there so serenely. Easier to film, too, than following around an overactive, shouty one.