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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

The Politics of Sleep

 Naptime.  One of the most talked about, written about, and contested times of the day for children.  Some caregivers love it for the respite it offers them in a mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing day, while other caregivers despise it for the “power struggle” dynamics that sometimes accompany it (particularly in the preschool years).

Children Need Sleep

Whatever the viewpoint, one thing is for certain: children need sleep.  We all do, and it is not for a little reason.  We need sleep to grow- physically, neurologically, and for a healthy stress response system.  We need sleep to rest-  to give our mind and body the pause that it needs.  And we need sleep to heal- to give our muscles, skin, bones, etc. time to regenerate.   

Sleep is not Dogma

With this said, one culture’s values around sleep is not dogma.  Despite the proliferation of literature on infant sleep schedules and preschool mandates, children are not inherently delicate.  Rather, diverse cultures throughout the world prove that there is no universal law around sleep (except that you need it), especially considering the spectrum of ways in which each culture cultivates sleep for its youngest members.  It’s important that we recognize this so that we don’t get stuck in the falsehood of dichotomizing rest.  Thinking there is a right and a wrong way for children to get what they need is true in some instances, but to assert a universal value around the way children sleep creates the possibility of asserting colonial attitudes on the culturally divergent ways of cultivating rest.  

Sleep is Political

Regardless of our practices around naptime, what is most important for us to remember is that the way that we relate to children and their sleep routines is political.  Children are right-holders and active citizens in society.  As such, mandatory participation in an act of rest comes with no small amount of negotiation.  When we participate in this negotiation, we are affirming the child’s right and competence in co-creating a restful experience, which leads to increased self-efficacy and confidence in their own self-care.  

To be clear, this is not to advocate for a kind of anarchist pedagogy, one in which adults have no authority when it comes to children’s sleep practices.  Authority still exists because a large knowledge gap between adults and children still exists.  However, authority in these instances is not absolute.  Even infants have an innate knowledge of what they need (often heralded by crying); therefore, our work is not how to “get them to sleep”, but to tune in to what their bodies, emotions, and behaviors are telling us.  As a child grows, they become more competent in recognizing what their body needs, as well as what feels most restful for them. Every time that we listen, follow, and negotiate with their thinking, feelings, and desires, we are participating in the politics of sleep by giving our authority and power away, while simultaneously promoting confidence and self-efficacy in children.  It is not easy; negotiating power never is.  But if we desire to live in a democratic society, one in which the rights of each citizen are highly valued, we need to recognize the inherent strength, capabilities, and knowledge(s) of even our youngest members.  


Thursday, November 5, 2020

The More We Get Together



“The more we get together, together, together...

The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.

Because your friends are my friends, and my friends are your friends. 

The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.”


In the Preschool Class, we sing this song almost every day at one of our three meal times.  And it sounds so simple- “The more we get together, the happier we’ll be.”  But, in the beginning, it often doesn’t feel that way….

It’s Monday morning, and we’re out in the yard.  The children have been working on their “Ninja House” much of the morning, but as we come back outside after snack, their attention turns to the newly-fallen leaves lying under our large maple tree.  CKP finds a leaf with a brilliant spectrum of colors (maroon, orange, and yellow) and says, “Look at my beautiful leaf!”  OP has turned her attention to the same leaf and after Clark puts it down, she immediately picks it up.  CKP notices this, and says, “No, I’m still working with that.”  “No, I’m working with it,” OP replies. 

By this time, I have come over to assess what is happening.  I ask them to hand me the leaf while we talk about how to solve the problem.  “It looks like you both want the same leaf.  How could we solve that problem?”  Hearing this, CKP quickly finds another leaf with its own array of colors and offers it as a substitution to OP.  “So CKP’s idea is that you could have the leaves he’s found and he could have the leaf that I’m holding in my hand.  How does that sound?”  “Not good!”  

Meanwhile, JA hears this same conversation and offers OP a leaf saying, “Here’s a leaf for you!”  “But that one isn’t beautiful!  I want my leaf,” OP responds.  However, as I continue to hold the leaf and CKP again asks to be entrusted with it, OP has her own idea.  I see her bounding up the side porch steps, only to celebrate and proclaim the long piece of grass she has found.  “It looks like you’ve found something else to play with, OP.  Does that mean CKP can have this leaf?”  “Yes!”, she replies.  

Tuesday will host one of the most important elections in our Nation’s history, and it has been met with not a little strife already.  Rather, it has been a continuous and contentious debate over the past four years, while ideas conflict over the appropriate and democratic way to move forward.  And though this discord has been sewn into the fabric of who we are together, I wonder about how, and even if, we will move forward together as a collection of diverse people, situated in the same geographical and constitutional milieu(s).  

“The more we get together, together, together…” The more our preschool class gets together, the more we see our differences: differences of culture, of thought, of feeling.  And the more we get together, the more we see these differences and recognize them as such.  Initially, we try to change one another, to root out these differences that we see as problematic.  But eventually, the more we get together, the more conflicts we have, the more we see our differences as something to be empathized with (rather than destroyed), and the more we see ourselves in one another.  A conflict over a leaf is just one example of this.  

With all of this being said, a leaf is not abortion or LGBTQ rights or immigration, and it never will be.  But the possession of a leaf is political.   Everything is.  And the more we get together as a community, the more we will learn how to navigate conflict together, empathize with one another’s differences, and just maybe... the happier we will be.