Snail’s pace.

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely
and the unwanted according to the graces
we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.
Mother Teresa

How often do we go through a day without stopping to really think about something … or do something for someone?

I’m guilty of it. I’m sure you are too. Busy schedules, loud kids, noisy life, e-mails coming in, to-do-lists piling up …

I’m learning, or at least, trying, to slow down … to focus on what is really important … where to help out, where to spend my energy, which relationships to nurture …

That’s what I love about homeschooling my girls. It forces me to slow down with them. And spend direct, amazing-one-on-one time with the girls. To spend time thinking with them. Not just to teach but to be taught.

Today’s lesson for the girls: facts about an ordinary, garden snail for our Spring Study.

Today’s lesson for mommy: I need to slow down a little, think deeper and follow the snail’s lead.

So … today, after reading about snails, we went on a muddy, wet snail hunt.

We learned that snails are both male and female. {Um, okay, that one was hard to explain to the girls …}

That they hibernate. Inside their shell (with just a seal of slime around the opening …)

That there a LOT of snails in our yard (especially after this rain).

That they will die if they leave their shell – and their shell grows as the snail grows.

{We were careful with washing our hands afterward … although contrary to what I thought, snails are no more ‘germy’ than turtles. Interesting! }

That those things sticking out of their head? Yeah, those are their eyes – but only on land snails.  (C’mon, moms, how handy would it be to have eyeballs that can move around your head like that?!)

That the girls love to learn in real life. In living colour. Not just by looking at a picture of a snail in a book. {Don’t we all?}

Thank you. Mr. Slimy Snail, for slowing us down together today.