Thursday, 28 January 2010
Today, I went to a puppet play in the Morning Glory classroom. Miss Anne Marie invited me along with her class and the Golden Roses. It was about an old lady named Babushka, who worked and worked all day, day after day...feel familiar?
I sat in a rocking chair, in line with all the other audience members who did their very best not to wiggle, or fall off their chairs.
I had had a morning where I had accidentally broken everyone's CWS email accounts, had to learn how to fix it with some IT stuff that I am still confused about, lost something I later found, accidentally launched our new website before I did the final check (that was a product of trying to fix the email), lost internet connection in the middle of the email fiasco, and temporary lost my "to do list"...all before 12noon. Needless to say, I was a bit frazzled by the time the puppet play came around.
For any of you have have never been in a Waldorf kindergarten classroom, it is one of the most nurturing, healing, magical and beautiful spaces which are not found in the pages of a fairy tale, or in a mind's eye, but here, on earth. As I sat in a fleece lined, wooden rocker, the scent of lavender and baking wafted through the air, the lights were soft and supplemented by the natural light that found its way in through the pink silk curtains, the colors of the walls and playthings were soothing and delicate, a portrait of the Madonna looked lovingly down on us, it is truly a lovely place to find yourself. It is like when you were a child and you imagined the dwellings of such wonderful characters as Grandma or perhaps a wee family living in an enchanted forest, like a house lovingly tended and carefully decorated with handmade things of all kinds; that is a Waldorf early childhood classroom. My headaches of the morning soon forgotten as I sat there patiently waiting for the play to begin.
Children sat on both sides of me, finding it hard not to spontaneously hug one another or lean their heads on each other's shoulders, other children helped a classmate get up on the bench or smoothed the hair of a friend. The play began and all the children joined in verse, singing a song about Babushka. Loud and confident they sang and then did their best to stay quiet when the song ended.
Ahhhh, how lucky I am to be able to walk into those classrooms. There is so much love, joy and beauty in early childhood years and I am glad to see it celebrated as it is here and in various Waldorf classrooms all over the world, everywhere.
