Our second magical Awakin Kids Circle has just gone by, and the children seem to be more comfortable in the space already! Seeing the children together in the space just makes us parents smile big. My smile was much bigger when Arya just came over and gave me a kiss right at the beginning of the circle!



We started as usual with Harshida aunty facilitating children's meditation using the Tibetan bowl, 


danced to Nimo's song (I enjoy it every time!), and then entered into a period of spontaneous storytelling, and a beautiful musical symphony facilitated by Divya! I have never seen Carnatic music introduced like this -- it was amazing with us tapping our arms on our shoulders and the ground and producing collective music. No instructions were needed - if you were there, you'd just be doing it.  

As we were waiting for Rev. Heng Sure to join, I realized a subconscious tendency to keep the kids entertained. Harshida aunty gently reminded me of a childhood where often nothing happened to entertain us, and we learned to be and just sit with each other. It is a scary thought that we are the ones programming our children to expect to be entertained all the time.

Eventually the children walked out into the garden, noticed the lemons, and Harshida aunty asked them, "What can we do with lemons?" One child responded, "We can make lemonade!" A lovely emergent project happened right there -- lemons were collected and the children took turns to make lemonade and serve it to everyone! 

Rev. Heng Sure joined the children over video feed from Australia and did a puppet show! We parents missed it as we were in circle -- I would love to hear any recollections from anyone who was able to catch that.

 
Meanwhile, we parents held our circle and heard each other's sharing around what we are learning about parenting. Some highlights: Learning to hold back from asking children to be nice. More important that they recognize their feelings and be comfortable being authentic. Learning to be present. Children remind us to examine our habit-pattern of wanting to be somewhere else or doing something else instead of being with them, totally present. Learning to let previous experiences of a troubled childhood heal and not to continue patterns of victimhood forward. Learning that parenting is very hard work, that we are mostly tired, stressed, and not at our best.  Learning that everyone else in the circle is also asking similar questions like us, and is trying to be good parents. Phew! We are not alone.
In the two circles so far, more than any particular sharing, I am holding a feeling of community. Sometimes we hear someone say, "I have never felt so loved in my life as I have in this space." And while we are in circle, our little ones come traipsing in, showing us what purity and innocence looks like. 

What stood out for me was seeing the little ones running around with joy. I saw 2-year old Medha do a little hoppity jump with one leg while wearing a thrilled expression. It was the exact same hoppity jump I saw Samani do when she was two and happy, and she did not learn that jump step from me. That hoppity jump is what feels like the closest human equivalent to a puppy wagging its tail when happy, and I've slowly started to join my daughter in doing that step whenever she does. How wonderful to learn how to jump with joy from our little ones -- use their company as an excuse to be goofy again. Happy without a cause. Why not?

By the close of the evening, I left rich with love, as I'm sure did the other parents. Looking forward to our next circle!