New Adventures with Old Friends

This past week while many of the local schools were on break I invited Playschool graduates from years past to join the little ones and myself for a few days in The Secret Forest. To have our old friends back in the space that they helped create felt so right. Seeing them walk through the door in the morning, listening to their excitement as they ran down the trails and connecting with their families at pickup brought back so many good memories. 

The children that have left Playschool have left with experiences that have prepared them for their journeys beyond these woods. And even though they don't practice raising their hands and wait to get called on, standing in a line or filling out worksheets these big-little ones assured their younger peers, who were curious about "real school", that when they got to kindergarten they knew what to do!

When I asked the graduates what they missed the most about their days at Playschool their honest answers reminded me to slow down and appreciate some of the smallest parts of our daily routine:

"The lupines in the summer."
"Show and Tell!"
"My friends"
​"Quite time."
"That bird! I remember it!" (a black capped chickadee)
"My favorite place... The broken down tree."
"Making fairy houses."
"EVERYTHING!!"

Watching these friends pick up right where they left off with their old friends was something that I hoped for but it was better than I imagined. They told stories and shared memories of things that they used to do together, they played together (sometimes talking and other times in silence because its as if they understood each other so well that words didn't need to be spoken) and when the day was over they parted ways knowing that the next time they would get together to play in this space that is would feel as though no time had passed.

These growing spirits continue to inspire me and bring me such joy. It has been a week filled with homecomings. I look forward to years of reuniting old friends for new adventures
deep in The Secret Forest.