Silence is Golden....

Katie is down for a nap right now, which is always a blessed break in the house. I can't believe that it's been two whole weeks since I've been on duty. Seems that time is flying. I don't know if it's pure coincedence or tha fact that I've been spending more one on one time with her (or it could be the fact that she's coming into that age where her vocabulary is starting to pick up) but it just seems that the words that she's saying has increased dramatically. The wife and I went to Babies R Us (I really don't know why we don't buy stock in that place - but I think every parent can say that) to pick up the staple items and ended up picking up a great alphabet tool that Leap Frog makes (thanks to our friends Eric and Amie for recommending).

I know that the box says that it's for 2 years old but here's what I'm thinking. Right now, her little braining is developing at like 50 mph and any opportunity that I can expose her to new things in a way that is fun and that can increase her knowledge, I'm going to. Sometimes it'll stick and other times it won't but never give up on the phrase "what if". I think now a days, as a society, we have given up on our dreams and have become complacement with being mediocre. We're mediocre with the jobs that we have (letting other determine what we're worth). We're mediocre in our marriages (turning on the TV instead of spending time with our spouse talking about our days and being sincere about how the other person feels) and we're mediocre with our kids. We think it's okay to send the kids to an educational system that says all you have to do is spit back information that we give you and you are considered educated instead of challenging the child to do the best and the most they can do. We currently can't afford the program but for anyone who can, I highly recommend montessori education. It's really hard to explain in words and without seeing it in person, it's difficult to really capture what they do but in a nutshell, they empower the child, even at a young age, to think for themselves and to be independent. The child is not assumed to not be able to handle tasks (within reason) and the result is a child that is more confident, enjoys learning and is a model citizen. Pretty neat program. I had a chance to check out one in Greensboro a while back. To say that my mouth wasn't constantly hitting the ground with what I was would be an understatement.

Gotta go... I think the silence is about to be broken. :)