H is for...

Hush.

I talk too much.  I’m working on changing that, but it's been this way for as long as I can remember.  I want there to be a full explanation, a complete answer, for everything.

When I was little, it seemed no one had the time or the inclination to answer my questions with much besides, “Because.”  I’m pretty sure I did my older kids a disservice by answering their questions ad nauseam, but that did have an amusing result at least once: their stepmother reported a conversation in the backseat when the kids were four and six years old that involved detailed differences between evergreen and deciduous trees.  In most cases, though, I just went on and on – taking away from them the opportunity to investigate and discover.  Fortunately, I wasn’t the only person parenting them, and they had plenty of folks, like Dearest, who would counter their questions with, “What do you think?”

More and more we have the ability to find answers instantly, because someone else has already done the research, already done the investigation, already done the work.  It isn’t much of a challenge to look up anything imaginable and get a fairly accurate hit on the first try.  Do I think we should discourage the kids from going to the internet for their answers?  No, in fact I think it’s better than going to Mom, asking the question, and getting an answer with no effort at all.  At least, when one looks up something on the internet, one has to phrase the search term in a way that will generate relevant answers.  One has to think.  In this house we still have plenty of books, too, and we use them frequently; especially to look up birds, trees, and bugs.

If asking questions is the best way to learn, then giving easy answers will take away part of the process, and eliminate the need to put forth any effort.  Pretty soon we might end up with children who haven’t learned how to learn.  Sometimes, the best answer is an expectant silence, and I should just hush.

My favorite time to knit is in the evening after everyone has gone to bed.  I don’t have the television on, or music.  Sometimes I listen to an audio book, but usually I just knit in the hush of a sleepy house.  One of my favorite things I’ve completed recently is a sleepy bunny for my newest grandson’s first Christmas.  Shhhh… it’s a secret...  :-)

Schaefer Yarn Company free pattern here