Concentration
“Good creative skills,” calls over The Boss as I gallop across the field doing what must look like an impression of a stag. I look at her in bewilderment. I’m not being creative, I’m being resourceful.
The thing is, Molly cut her leg. Not anything massive, The Boss cleaned it up and bandaged it and said it was probably down to a flint when Molly was being acrobatic trying to beat me to catch the ball. And that’s why I’m having to be resourceful. Whilst Molly is “healing” we’re not allowed to play ball in case leaping in the air makes It worse.
So, being the problem solver I am, I decided to find an alternative. With the dawn chorus as my soundtrack, I took myself ditch exploring. I knew what I was looking for, and after quite a bit of pulling and twisting and a lot of focus, I procured a prize twig, probably more of a branch really. It definitely wasn’t a tree. Molly and The Boss were two fields away by this time, so negotiating long grass and narrow gaps in the hedge (which I’ve learnt over time means I have to hold my bounty at an angle to get through them) I bounded to get ahead of them, the twigs of the branch glistening like antlers.
The Boss then realised what I was doing, as one by one I bit off and spat out the twigs until, finally I had a perfectly sized stick for throwing. “Ahhhh…”, noted The Boss.
What has my tale to do with the little people you wonder. Well, like me, they can be lost in their tasks when they are interested in them. What is important is that we teach them how to concentrate when it’s something they’re not too keen on. This is both a learning and life skill…and something we are all having to work on at home at the moment. One of the skills needed to concentrate is to manage distractions. Having the whole family at home whilst the little people are trying to learn and the big people are trying to work, this skill is being tested to the limit. We heard The Boss having a professional conversation with someone on the phone the other day and even we heard the holler “Mum, I’ve done a pooh!” from the other end.
When at school the little people are taught to draw a diagram or jot down their ideas to help them think through a big task. Molly and I struggle a bit with that but then compared to the little people the things we have to concentrate on are not quite as demanding. We try hard to concentrate to follow instructions, find lost balls and, as we all know, the most important thing that Molly concentrates on is her belly!
So, in this continued lockdown we wish you all, little and big people alike, lots of patience to be able to keep concentrating on the things you need to get done and to manage your distractions.
We’re missing seeing you all and I am especially missing my morning greetings at the door.
Stay strong and safe,
Lots of wags
Jasper -the stag x