So every year, about this time, Tad and I begin to get the calls from teachers.
Coen is being a bit disruptive in class.
Coen is unaware of his body movements and sometimes flops into other students, disturbing their work.
Coen is saying inappropriate words.
Coen is making noises all day long. I don't think he even notices he's doing it.
Coen seems to be in his own little world.
Tad and I have wondered about S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) or perhaps he's just not getting enough exercise to round out his enormous amount of energy. At any rate, this year we finally went online, did some research and bought him a Happy Lamp. This is a form of light therapy, that can elevate mood and energy during the dark and cold of the winter. The lights arrived in the mail Tuesday and we set one up in Coen's room for his reading time at night and one in the dining room to shine on all of us while we eat breakfast. They're lovely.
So, when we opened the boxes I said, "They're magic lamps!"
Coen looked up. "Magic? What do they do?"
Tad sighed. "Sorry honey, but these are Montessori kids. We can explain the science of the thing."
"Fine." I said. "They're science lamps."
In Montessori, the teacher gives the First Great Lesson to the students. They learn about how the entire universe came into being. The teacher talks to them about stars and the sun born in a cosmic instance out of clumps of particles being pulled together. They get to see a balloon pop and a volcano erupt during this lesson. They learn about the speed and importance of light to human beings (that lesson comes later, as do humans). So Tad is now a Montessori teacher and my children are Montessori students. They can understand the science of the sun and vitamin D and mood and energy. Sot Tad explained it to them as we sat under the light of the happy lamps.
Last night I went to tuck in Coen and he asked me to turn on his happy lamp. "Sure, I said. I'll turn on your magic science lamp."
A fair compromise, don't you think?
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