Parental Pride...

I do not often get a chance to see the results of what is never more than one's best shot at parenting with no particular training for that important role. As a father, I can say that I always did my best given the circumstances, the knowledge I had and the overall mental health and well-being at the time. All the same, I know that I made huge mistakes, incredibly stupid blunders, and likely caused pain along the way.

Given that I still adhere to the idea that I did the best I could within each context, I am hugely proud whenever I get a chance to see what happened now that my children are adults. I had no idea that blogging would have that result.

This is not to say that I think my "girls" are infallible or that they, too, haven't made similarly outlandish blunders. I am content not knowing the details. What is special is to read about an incident, worry about how it might have turned out, and see that the parental messages, albeit maternal in the reference, made a difference and stuck.

Last evening, my spouse, my former spouse and I were looking through photos in an effort to select some great memories to share through a "toast to the bride" at my elder daughter's wedding coming up soon (see Inspired by Dooce ). "Inspired..." has recently moved to the East and is no longer close enough to have spontaneous meals with. However, my younger daughter (see Heather's Randomness ) was able to come as she is still in town. We had to rush through some of the evening's festivities in order to ensure that she could get to a certain establishment by 9:30, so some of the relaxed conversation was not quite as relaxed. However, I now try my best to enjoy every moment together as I now appreciate more deeply what a gift it is to share time with my daughters. Who cares if it is rushed?

Unfortunately, I have the cold that is being passed all over school by children, teachers, parents, and any visitor that seems to have a germ to share. Therefore I have less patience and my ADHD makes it difficult to be part of many different conversations at once when I am also trying to put the meal together. This is totally unnecessary information, but I thought I'd set the scene, context, whatever.

So Heather helped pick out some pictures, was involved in many phone conversations with friends as they prepared for this Halloween outing to one of the single's bars in town, and shared the latest adventures and frustrations. It was during dinner that she told me about her blogging and that of her sister. Off she went to enjoy herself and her mother, my hubby and I continued to look through pictures and scanned our little hearts away.

This morning I get to read about her outing and am filled with a sense of pride. What a strong, confident and well-balance woman she has become. It all reminds me of how wonderful they are and how quickly their childhood traveled along.

As a child, I always found the years go by with a dreadful slowness that made me wonder if I would ever live to be an adult. Did my children experience the same sense of slowness? How is it that I find that their childhood years have sped along? I still remember the hours of labour and their individual births as if it were yesterday, rather than the 25 and 21 years that have gone by since.

All the same, I wouldn't trade them away and do them all over. What kind of different mistakes would I make? Though I would love to eradicate any pain I caused them, I do not want to eliminate any of the lessons they might have learned as a result of that pain. It seems that whatever they learned has served them well to this point. How can I be sure that I could do it better a second time around? They are so wonderfully imperfect just the way they are. I enjoy spending time with them. What a wonderful result!

I'm confident that I am not the first person to share with the world that "everything I learned about digital technology, I learned from kids," however, I am starting my first blog after discovering that my two daughters have been blogging for over a year.

I discovered their blogs, read LOTS of their ramblings and have decided that ADHD truly does run in families. I never thought of my older daugher as ADHD, however, she has the most interesting and random blogs I have ever read. - Not saying much. I don't read many.

However, I am impressed with their writing. They are fairly amazing individuals anyway, so that should not surprise me.

So back to learning from kids...

I am a principal in an elementary school inWestern Canada. We are a fairly large municipality and my school is considered as "inner city" though as a former American, I have a tough time seeing it in the same light as I am accustomed to seeing American inner city schools. However, we do share many of the demands that inner city schools face in their day-to-day lives.

One of the things that amaze me when I look back on a career in teaching that began in 1974 is how hesitant my colleagues are to allow the children to teach them. I truly belive that I learned very early on that the kids I teach are contstantly trying to teach me the things I need to learn. Although I am not convinced that they are always conscious of their efforts, I am completely sure that the lessons are there every day and that all I have to do is be open to them. When I am open to the children and what they present to me, I have an almost infinite potential for becoming human, for learning about life that is real, about learning about a world I could never see if I remain closed to the children with whom I work.

I don't want to seem that I totally neglect the children with whom I lived and from whom I learned at home, however, I think I will approach that subject another day and stick to something a little safer for my first blog.

I recently finished a doctoral degree in Curriculum, Teaching, & Learning. So I can lay claim to the "Dr." in my title. What amuses me is the image others have of what that "Dr." means. As far as I see it, it means that I truly come much closer to understanding how children learn and how teachers teach than I did before beginning doctoral studies. However, because I studied how learning technologies (in particular - computers) assist children ihn the development of their literacy skills, my colleagues assume that I know everything about computers, digital technologies, and using the WWW as a resource.

What I know about all those things, I first began learning from my two daughters. I broadened those landscapes when I began working with students and using computers to assist them in their learning. When I began my research for my doctoral thesis/dissertation, I truly focussed on the children and what they did when given free reign to explore the digital resources available to them. They taught me how to use graphic organizers, how to present information via powerpoint or other presentation software, how to use digital photography to create easily accessible communications, and a host of other uses I would never have thought of if left to myself.

So why would anyone - especially someone my age (I'm into the fifties!) not open up to a generation of people who have no fear about digital technologies? Digital technologies are second nature to these kids. They come to me to ask me how to do something, and I invariably lean three or four things from them while I show them what they came for. Amazing.

So....Now I want to learn to blog! I think this is a medium that is going to be fun for me. Whether anyone actually reads this or any other ramblings will be fascinating. I think that the potential that someone would is so enticing! There is an almost erotic nature to that idea. As I expose my thinking to the world, who will read it? Who will find it attractive? Who will find it worth their response?

We shall see.

In the meantime, I think I might use this opportunity to share what I have learned throughout the years without having to be constrained by the technical demands of academic writing and the publishing world. You will not likely find any footnotes or references here unless you ask for them.

Just my "pearls" of whatever wisdom might have been gained over the last fifty-two years of living, learning, loving and laughing.

Soon!