A Rainy Monday Morning with the Buddha

Upon D's request, this morning our preschool "lesson" is the Buddha. My husband recorded the award-winning PBS documentary, "The Buddha" a few months back. On Saturday night we began t watch it, but D fell asleep after 27 minutes. This morning, raw and rainy, I suggested that we stay inside and snuggle up on the couch. He asked if we could watch "The Buddha."

He has watched the anecdote of the Buddha having compassion for the ants of the farmers field at a farming festival. It is his "favorite part". He listened intently for the past hour, asking many questions and prompting me to read to him the subtitles as they arose on the screen. Suddenly he piped up, "Mom, The Buddha is a child of God!"

The beauty of a flexible homeschool schedule is that we can take breaks from planned lessons to follow Ds interests and inquiries. Quite frankly, every day I become more aware of how prejudiced my own ideas are regarding what a 4-year old can do, what one will be interested in and what one won't. D patiently and lovingly shows me how limited and limiting my beliefs are and I let him lead me into his beautiful unfolding. Many days I'm not sure who learned more and am thankful for the gift of grace.