Cleaning

We will be welcoming a 14 year old girl, the daughter of an old friend, into our family and home on Saturday.  She lives in Lima, Peru, and is on summer holiday.  We are looking forward to living with her for a month.

When her mom ran the idea by me, my only concern was that she would not have her own room while with us.  This did not phase either of them.  She will be sleeping in the boys' room with them.  I am preparing the top bunk for her (the boys have been sleeping on the floor on blankets and their sheepskins for months) and emptied out some drawers for her.

The kids' work today was to go through their room and find a home for everything.  We recently put some new shelves and a dresser in there so it's perfect timing for reorganizing.  They got rid of some old toys and recycled some old papers.

This kind of work can be arduous at times.  We each have our own process when it comes to shedding old things, cleaning, and rearranging.  And, when you're a kid, your process is not necessarily transparent.  And your energy and focus?  Variable :-)

The key today was to give them ample space and time to "be" in what they were doing...the various steps, stops and turns.

I'm heading into the kitchen to make dinner and they're still cleaning.  And laughing.  And goofing.  The work of living.

(In the pic above, Gem is seen with the ol' carpet sweeper, something I picked up years ago, influenced by his Waldorf Kindergarten classroom.  It's a nice tool to have because kids, even young ones, can use it and feel a sense of accomplishment and helping.  Sag played the ol' keyboard for a good 30 minutes or so.  He was engrossed with beats and melodies and had a ball.)