Over there- in a box March 9, 2007
Posted by spacemom in : Kids , add a commentMonty Python- The World’s Greatest Critic
"Some people have made the mistake of seeing Shunt’s work as a load
of rubbish about railway timetables, but clever people like me, who
talk loudly in restaurants, see this as a deliberate ambiguity, a plea
for understanding in a mechanized world. The points are frozen, the
beast is dead. What is the difference? What indeed is the point? The
point is frozen, the beast is late out of Paddington. The point is
taken. If La Fontaine’s elk would spurn Tom Jones, the engine must be
our head, the dining car our esophagus, the guard’s van our left lung,
the cattle-truck our shins, the first-class compartment the piece of
skin at the nape of the neck, and the level crossing an electric elk
called Simon. The clarity is devastating. But where is the ambiguity?
It’s over there in a box. Shunt is saying the 8:15 from Gillingham,
when in reality he means the 8:13 from Gillingham. The train is the
same, only the time is altered. Ecce homo, ergo elk. La Fontaine knew
his sister, and knew her bloody well. The point is taken, the beast is
molting, the fluff gets up your nose. The illusion is complete; it is
reality, the reality is illusion, and the ambiguity is the only
truth. But is the truth, as Hitchcock observes, in the box? No, there
isn’t room, the ambiguity has put on weight. The point is taken, the
elk is dead, the beast stops at Swindon, Chabrol stops at nothing, I’m
having treatment, and La Fontaine can get knotted."
I often read Here Be Hippogriffs and nod quietly. For Soleil is not unlike Julia’s son (but she is certainly not as bright at Julia’s son either). She reads, but behind our backs, refusing to make a mistake in front of people she cares about. She had me create a number book (with numbers 1-200).And I have to read it to her at bedtime (yeah, that’s an exciting plot!) She can count to 1000, with care. She is bright, but I try not to compare her with other kids. I figure each child is different. She has troubles accepting who she is. She hates to be last in anything. She can’t handle being pointed out as different. She will not make a mistake on a new task.
The preschool co-coordinator at daycare told us that Soleil has very unusual ways of approaching a problem. She said "There’s the box. And Soleil is over on the opposite side of the room from the box." We see this and we encourage it.
We see too many kids who are pushed into success and pushed into sports and pushed in general by parents. We push free thinking. Terrible, I know, but we do. We encourage both of the girls to stop and come up with solutions to their own problems. We ask open ended questions in response to their questions. We
encourage them to try new things, but to respect their decisions if they don’t like the new thing.
No wonder the poor girl is out of the box.
Not sure where this post is going, but just some general thoughts about the box in general. The ambiguity has gotten too big.
