Magic School Bus

We are huge fans of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus!  Between Will and Mikey, we have probably been watching this show for over 15 years…and honestly, I still don’t mind it. Each episode covers a science topic, investigated by the class during ‘field trips’ on their magic bus. It is pretty much the greatest thing ever!

During each episode Ms. Frizzle reminds the kids to 

“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”

As parents, I hope we will do the same. This is a long, complicated journey with our kids. If one or more of your kids have special needs, you will likely be more involved in their lives for a longer period of time. You WILL make mistakes. You’ll go through rough patches and things will surely get messy…more than once.

But we need to try new things and see what helps. Try one thing at a time, even though that makes the process move slowly, so you’ll understand the effect of each method. Take your time and try things out to see if they help your child. If not, at least you took the chance. Then you can move on to another possible method, approach, or system and see if that helps. 

Over time, you’ll build a knowledge base that helps your decision making improve. You’ll be better able to select methods that will work because you have been carefully trying things out for years.

10,000 Hours

Have you heard the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something? 

Maybe you’ve also heard parents say that they are experts on their own child. If a parent lives with their child, and tries to help them around the clock and throughout the year, their 10,000 hours of training would be complete before their child’s second birthday (I’m accounting for the fact that even though we don’t sleep a lot, we do sleep sometimes). So, you truly are (or will be soon) an expert on your child. Trust yourself to take chances, make mistakes and get messy…your child will be better off for your efforts.