Somedays, despite my best efforts, the day is steeped in more randomness than rhythm, and even though I tell myself I’d prefer to find or create a sense of rhythm for our days, I have to admit randomness seems to fit us pretty well. Sometimes it’s the flow of conversations from one topic to the next that might seem unrelated to the untrained eye; I love the way my girls can flit through a series of ideas like hummingbirds moving from flower to flower in search of nectar. Other times, it’s simply the way the day unfolds, with a little of one thing and then realizing the time and having to pivot to get ready for something else and moving from room to room collecting what we need.
What I’ve realized over time is that even randomness can be a rhythm when moving through the day or a conversation. And when it comes to my girls, I revel in the randomness of our interactions, even if at times the speed of their teen responses leaves me a bit behind. As I’ve come to embrace this part of who we are, I have also realized that my mind tends also to revel in the randomness of the reasons I love them. After all, like the imperfect humans we are, love is equally messy and frenetic at times. Or at least the thoughts around why I love them can be. And I actually love those darting, dancing thoughts.
With that in mind, I am going to capture a few of those fast-moving musings before they move too far out of my mind’s reach. As we moved through the day, I was caught up in the ways my girls respond to the world around them, especially when we are doing school time together. They often start on their own with books that spark their curiosity and create learning adventures upon which we all embark separately and yet together. There is a constant, consistent flow of information and ideas moving around all of us at any given moment. Even when I am in the kitchen preparing food for the start of our day at our mid-morning hour, I am pulled in and carried along on the tide of their curious minds. As bacon and sausages sizzle, random information floats around me on a river of fascinating facts and details. Each of us grabs the ones we are most interested for the barest of moments before the frenetic journey continues.
There is an ongoing commentary from each girl as one reads about new underwater sea creatures being discovered and googles what those creatures look like and shares images with me and the other discusses the way one quantum physics book and writer trumps the others she’s tried to read or how that writer might react to the book about atoms she is currently reading. But we don’t stay in either place for long, because a turn of the page reveals something new to consider or google or share, and those ideas and facts float out into the river of knowledge and fascinating details of the next subject. In part this is inspired by the books I select at the library which tend to focus on questions to ponder about myriad subjects. I find my girls enjoy these kinds of explorations that involve random ideas and subjects.
Even as they settle at the table to enjoy their late morning breakfast, there are exchanges of ideas and word play that ricochets quickly through our shared space, inviting laughter and additional comments, questions, and genuine amusement and delight. This is a routine I have come to appreciate deeply. I love what learning looks like in these moments. There are times when our pace is slower and more focused, but these expeditions that take us through oceans and atoms and jungles and inventors and fascinating people are some of my favorite times. I learn quite a bit as I float alongside these two wonderful young women in a sea of learning. I revel in the randomness of their learning and conversations and my own delight. It is a daily routine for which I am truly grateful.