Seaweed, check your folders, Wednesday

A steadfast proponent of vegetables, I've started serving cut cucumbers and bell peppers with our bread for the past month, and a number of children eat these raw veggies with relish. Heartened by this enthusiasm, I brought seaweed as a treat to have with our rice today, and a number of children were excited, allowed the seaweed to delight their palate, and found joy and presence in discovering they could make little sushi rolls (as I did) with their rice and seaweed. I had 2 reflections I wanted to share.

Among polarities, we are always trying to find the right balance between simplicity and texture (not that these 2 have to compete). I try to avoid a snack time with so many choices that children then feel satisfied with nothing because they are then wondering if the other choice would have been better; indeed, we try to figure out what the children tend to eat and serve it without the need to ask a lot or any questions (e.g., the seaweed was offered 1 piece at first and then children could tell us they liked it and receive more). That said, I would like to provide more and more vegetables with snack time, and I know that these do not have a great deal of calories, and I can't rely upon them as the main source of energy for the morning for the children, so I am trying to offer them as discrete choices.

The second reflection I have is on manners and play and food. I go through this as a parent, and have gone through witnessing relatives exhort my sons to eat their salads with a fork (like their dad my sons have been fond of salads from the start) while that same relative was eating french fries and a burger with fingers. I did actually watch tv once (perhaps a previous lifetime), and remember a Seinfeld episode in which George and others eat chocolate bars with knife and fork. So much of what we consider polite is culture or family specific. In the nursery, we do a lot of gentle movement towards encouraging children to use spoons to eat their soup veggies or rice, and some of this does indeed seem appropriate; we are a gateway to a broader social world, and many people in America expect you to eat a vegetable soup with a spoon (some Japanese restaurants would provide an obvious exception). At the same time, children take such delight and are so engaged when given a culturally permissible way to eat with their hands, such as wrapping rice in seaweed or nibbling on crunchy bell pepper and cucumber. I don't have answers here. I am just noting a line of inquiry.

In any event, next year I intend to explore more of this enhancing the snacks in a simple and consistent way--probably having seaweed available on rice day (children were so happy with it I promised I would bring rice and seaweed to any potlucks I was invited to this summer), the cucumber and bell pepper on bread day, and perhaps something like a a Southwest seasoned quinoa on Thursday with organic lettuce for children to make wraps with if they want (not a promise; I'll do some tests). I don't tend to offer bread on soup days because I observe that some children given the chance to eat bread will avoid trying soup all year (and other children who would really like the soup also start avoiding the soup), which seems a shame to me--I am an admitted card-carrying vegetable-centric person (leafy greens are the food I think I would be saddest about having to give up).

Please check in your parent folders. I have gifts for your children that are all the same, and I find they have a better chance of making it home organically if they are in your parent folder. I will have them there first thing Tuesday morning.

Again, on Wednesday, drop-off will be as usual. Please plan to be at the playground for pick-up no later than 11:30am. Butterfly, Sunflower, and Golden Forest children and teachers will parade together from the woods to meet and gather with parents there. It is evolving, but I believe we would like parents to make an arch for us to process through. Then parents take their child's hands, and we will say or sing a blessing for the year. We will also likely have a poem and song in memory of Phoebe. Then parents and children will eat strawberry shortcake in a fairly relaxed way. We will gather at the end for a closing song.

I plan to be at many Friday Maxwelton days and hope to see you there.

Blessings,

William



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