Raising Buddha

Miles started first grade last week and this week I got homework asking about his likes, dislikes, hopes and fears.

Here’s the Miles bio I wrote up:

Since he was born, Miles has always been very physical. He’s agile, and knows his body. A natural all-around kinesthetic learner, he picks up sports easily, processes language slowly, and is a fan of anything physical. He enjoys sports, competition, running around, and wrestling. When he comes out of his shell, he can be extremely affectionate. He’s been raised in an attachment parenting style and still sleeps in bed with me when at my house.

Miles has been raised inside of the mythology of the Buddha (that’s his nickname) and being a warrior and the codes and honor systems therein. He’s always had a proclivity towards all things driven by fighting – though for him there is no ill-intention, it’s just a fun way to play. Since he was about two, I’ve taught him to lucid dream. He now has a rich and vivid dream life (usually filled with battles) and regularly intends what he dreams on a given night.

Miles is also a strategist. He pays attention to systems and learns the points to apply pressure in order to get his outcomes.

Both his mother and I have been reading to Miles since he was 18 months old. We read every night and his greatest joy is fantasy with plenty of creatures. We’ve read hundreds of pages of Greek myths and have recently ventured into updated versions of those myths written for young adults by modern authors.

Miles intensely dislikes yelling. After his first day of first grade, when asked what he liked most about you, he said, “she doesn’t yell”. In this vein, he startles easily and sometimes takes a while to recover. He is working diligently with his mother and I to “use his words” when things upset him so that he can more quickly recover from emotional imbalances.

One of the concepts I use most often with Miles is the idea of resetting. So, if he gets off, I gently and firmly guide him back to the reset position. He is best at this when left alone. The more pressure from outside sources, the harder it is for him and the longer it takes.

Miles also loves animals. He’s got a gift when it comes to befriending them and is absolutely in love with creatures of all kinds. In addition to that he has a gentle heart. He tracks for fairness or the lack thereof and generally wants things to “be fair” – both for himself and others.

As for his hopes, I think Miles hopes that he will not be bored at school (his language, not mine) and will be able to play a lot. Truthfully, these are my hopes as well. I advocated strongly to get him into your class because of your reputation as being gentle, your background in Waldorf, and the brief MAC talk you gave at the end of the last school year. The note about snacks you sent home the first day of school was such a relief. Miles has loathed the fact that so many of his friends got candy and processed fruit snacks in their lunch boxes and all he got was “the natural, healthy not-yummy stuff”.