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| Lily Thinking |
The other night as we were reading bedtime stories, Lucy and Lily told me about the "finking chair" at their preschool; Lily is currently a student there and Lucy an alumnus. I gather from them that while this special chair usually sits empty, it's available for anyone who needs to "fink" about something. My past experiences as a teacher suggest that the person who sits there is asked to "fink" about something she said or did--something the teacher, perhaps, "finks" they should "fink" about before repeating. I couldn't make out whether or not Lucy sat in that chair last year, nor what she "fought" about as she did. Lily says she's not had the opportunity and it's my hunch that she never will.
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| Lucy Thinking |
Many years ago one of our children came home from the same preschool distraught. After much coaxing he finally confessed that he had spent time in the thinking chair. Later in the day, he told his father about it and asked if anything like that had ever happened to him when he was young. I had to turn from the scene to keep from ruining the moment, knowing this kind of thing "happened" often to his dad and that for the most part he made it happen. He didn't go into any of these stories but simply put his arm around his despondent son and hugged him. "Yes," he responded, "it happened to me, too."
That chair was no doubt of benefit to both these lovely people. It's a gift, after all, to have a moment to think about things; a gift even when we're required by someone else to do so.
So today I'm wondering if maybe every place of learning should have a "finking" chair. In my present place of learning (and working) such a chair could be occupied most of the time.
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