Estimated reading time: 6 minutes, 15 seconds

Hey Maha, I’ve been so intrigued by this connection between parenting and rhizomatic learning too – so much seems to align – especially the bits about supporting independence, modelling (rather than telling – or shouting!) the behaviours you want them to demonstrate, letting go, encouraging inquiry, exploration, curiosity and play. Providing an appropriate balance of structure / support and room for independent thought and exploration. It’s a delicate balance, and I think often dependent on context – on reading the situation, knowing your child, knowing when they need your support (and how to support them appropriately) vs when to just step away and let them do it on their own. And it’s fluid and constantly changing too, as they grow (and they grow so fast don’t they?!) you need to adjust your approach. There’s no doubt it’s the most challenging (and rewarding!) job you’ll ever have.
I’ve been actively reflecting A LOT on my parenting during the last few weeks, being a lot more mindful of my actions and how it impacts my child’s behaviour, and adjusting my approach.

I’ve been thinking a lot also on your posts on vulnerability – how important showing vulnerability (both teacher/parent and student/child) is for inviting/encouraging participation / independence, and establishing trust – and fostering community. Really fascinating to explore.

And play. I’ve been really interested in play and playful learning, creating and making might help support wider participation (e.g. by providing alternative forms to communicate, express and make sense of complexity), but was also thinking out loud on Maureen Maher’s post (http://maureenmaherblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/embracing-uncertaintly-hedgehogs-and-other-prickly-animals/ which you link to above), about whether in fact play might also make it ‘safer’ to show vulnerability, as expressing something deeply emotional via art, music, poetry etc might be easier / ‘safer’ than talking or writing about it directly. I don’t know….I sense there’s a link there somewhere!

Just like you say that you’ve written a post of scattered thoughts…but really they are connected, just in ways that you don’t explicitly realise yet. So much of this experience has been in finding pieces of a very complex puzzle, and starting to find the bits that seem to fit together….