when do we outgrow tickles?
i don’t think i know of one adult who will admit to loving being tickled – while i know many who tickle. thank Heaven for children who love being tickled – or we’d be surrounded by sad people clasping their hands under their armpits!
what brings this on? well, my kids at kindergarten – of course! they love being tickled. in fact, in learning games – they actively seek out the booby traps that involve getting tickled! even being picked up (a stern favorite) takes a second place to being tickled. and boy is it fun!
you see, i’m a tickler. even as a university student – i loved tickling my sister until she threatened to wet herself. (having a beard helped a lot to continue the madness after she’d managed to grab my hands.)
and yes, i will admit that i love being tickled! (my Mom used to give the best tickles – though we would guard and protest oh so wholeheartedly ;0) )
now that i think about it, i suspect our enjoyment of being tickled is dependent on our trust in the tickler. it is, after all, a fairly intimate exercise – both physically and emotionally. obviously you have to allow someone to get real close to you for them to tickle you *duh*
but it’s the emotional intimacy that intrigues me. based on recent observations of my students (and fond memories of home); to truly enjoy a good tickle, you have to surrender to it completely. you have to give in and relinquish control for a few seconds. be in the moment – and enjoy with reckless abandon!
maybe that is part of the reason why i love tickling – to experience such complete openness and unconditional trust is a rare thing in modern societies. a very, very beautiful thing to be sure. it’s a touch of heaven for the soul.
maybe our response to tickling can be seen as a measure of o our openness to being loved unreservedly?
… these were the two “E”s i had to work on according to my walking on sunshine list – and boy, did i ever find the keys to those!
*lol*
going back to school was exactly what the doctor ordered. the tidal wave of love from my kids just blew me away! it really is amazing how those little bodies can bottle up so much energy – and they’re eager to share the good vibrations!
anyhoo – must dash. School starts in 50 minutes.
chat soon,
*mwah*
it’s the first day of the new semester and i should be halfway through my morning rituals. but i’m not, obviously. for some reason i’m convinced it’s a bad idea *lol*
nervous? me?
you bet!
*sigh*
nothing for it – see you when i get back!
here’s the deal: i’ve lost my mojo.
it’s thursday night and i’ve just returned home from school. my last class took forever and it feels like i’m not getting anywhere with my students. the teenagers are getting the better of me… i’ve run out of ideas on how to get them talking. it’s a “conversation class” – which means we’re supposed to converse for 90 minutes. (okay, two sessions of 40 minutes with a ten minute break in the middle.) It’s a miracle if i get one of them to say more than three sentences. i’ve tried sports, rock, hip hop, online gaming, pets, family, fashion, parties, school, poetry, visual arts, movies – everything. harry potter worked for a while, but we’ve gone through all the books now…
i know they think swearing is funny – but i’m not comfortable with the idea of exchanging insults and cusses with 14 year olds.
fuck i feel useless. i just want to sleep. i honestly don’t feel like doing anything.
yup, i know – these are all little red flags saying auntie debra is visiting. time to take the risperdal again.
*sigh*
here are some pics from my 11-hour day with the kids (teachers and parents) from kindergarten last saturday. we went to a “farm” in tainan county, called “cow’s house”:
doing the loco-motion – everybody’s on the train and ready to roll!
daywalker – our guide avoided the sun at all costs.
moving on up – snapped in transit.
calves – the hungry kind
we’z gots ta get some!
note to self: cut out figure on the right…
standoff: Jocelyn wanted to feed the pony – but she wouldn’t stand any closer.
Meg loves candy – mom loves coloring.
my sentiments exactly!
Dylan made it to my desktop with this one :0)
every week, i have to write in the communication books of my students at kindergarten. it’s quite a bit of work (we’re talking 4 classes here) – and it often feels like pouring water into a hole in the ground. my comments have to be translated into Chinese so the parents can understand it (which means i can’t use difficult words or elaborate grammar – who knows what that will translate to?), and i never get any feedback.
make that past tense – i never got any feedback.
i was surprised by the following little note:
Loosely, I’m told this translates to:
“Hi Willie:
Hunter recently told me that he would like to go back to USA with Willie when he grows up. I used the chance to encourage him to study English harder for it. Willie, you are his idol. Thanks for teaching so well!”
color me all warm an fuzzy :0)
*note: Hunter is barely 3 years old. taken into consideration that i’m pale, tall, hairy and that i speak English – in his world, where else would I be from than the US?
i recently refilled my red marker – and overfilled it *grr*
now, when my kids have to draw in their books – i encourage them by splattering red ink all over the white-board, and then (through adding and erasing) finding an image inside the chaos.
probably not my best work ever – but these guys loved the new approach to the song ;0)
in tonight’s “ABC Class” – the really young kids – we talked about family.
okay, so ‘talked’ might be too strong a word – more parrotting , but you get the idea.
one of the exercises was to draw a picture of your family. one dear little heart made use of the opportunity to make my heart pump custard by drawing the following picture:
notice the “extras” outside the picture frame? that would be me and my Taiwanese co-teacher, Christene.
see how everybody is smiling? i’m positively glowing man *lol*
