Saturday, March 26, 2011

Lightbulb Moments

I love lightbulb moments. That "aha!" feeling for thinking of a solution to a problem or finally understanding something I've been trying to learn is simply very self-satisfying.

I love Matthew's lightbulb moments even more. They make me happy. And he has many, I've lost count. There are lightbulb moments in everything he is learning - from walking to saying words to blowing bubbles to learning colors to sight reading locking me out of the house to navigating the apps on my iPhone on his own.

I'll share a recent lightbulb moment.

A friend's 2-year old figured out how he could use a stool to help him get to things that were a little out of his reach. And I realized that I hadn't taught Matthew that yet but I bet he could do it.

So, playing with a balloon one day, the balloon landed on the kitchen counter just out of Matthew's reach. Taking him by the hand, I led him to the bathroom where we keep a little plastic step stool. Hand over hand, I showed him to pick it up and take it to where his balloon was. We put it on the floor, he got up on it and was able to get his balloon. We did it a few more times that day. He is a visual learner and a hands-on learner. And he learns better when we go through the motions rather than just talking about it.

This evening, Matthew demonstrated his understanding of that skill. I was in our bathroom with Elizabeth and Matthew.

Me: Elizabeth, let's wash your hands.

Matthew: Wash hands.

Me: Oh, you want to wash hands too? Ok. Oh, but you can't reach the water here. We need a stool.


Matthew left our bathroom. I washed Elizabeth's hands, not even thinking about where Matthew could've gone. As I was drying Elizabeth's hands, Matthew walked back into our bathroom with the plastic step stool from the other bathroom, set it on the floor by the sink and got up on it to wash his hands.

I didn't specifically tell him to get a stool. I didn't tell him where the stool was. He just processed what I said and thought, "Aha! I know where I can find a stool to use!"


Do you have a lightbulb moment to share? We'd love to hear it.

5 comments:

Kelli said...

Oh how I loved this post!! It actually made me a bit teary because our children are capable of anything!! I was thining of a "lightbulb moment" and this popped into my mind. We have been working on Colin covering his mouth when coughing for awhile because obviously it's one of those things that all kids should eventually start doing. Recently, we were out somewhere and when Colin started coughing, I told him to cover his mouth. This woman commented and said "oh, he's not even 2 yet! they don't know how to do that yet!" I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, well, Colin does! What started out as us having to remind Colin to cover his mouth when coughing recently turned into him automatically covering his mouth every time he coughs. I noticed that this week and made me smile because he knows exactly what he needs to do every time he coughs!

Violette's Mom said...

This is a good post! I'd have to say my most recent lightbulb moment is in relation to her saying "I want juice please" vs. "juice please." She can say "I want" she just doesn't most of the time. Last week, she made a request, and instead of letting her do it I said "Can you ask mommy the big girl way?" And she said "Iwant JUICE! Pease!" So I've been suggesting she ask me for things the "biggie girl" or big girl way and she will say I want. Hopefully in time it will be how she asks all the time!

Rochelle said...

Love the lightbulb moments too! Yeah Matthew you are a rock star buddy!

Michelle said...

What an awesome lightbulb moment for Mathew! Now just watch out - he'll be using that stool to reach for things he shouldn't be getting! :)

catholic frugal mom said...

that gives me so much hope!