A Teaching Moment

Over spring break, my husband and I took our children on a trip down memory lane.

In my life before children, carpools, homework and Girl Scouts I worked a two-year stint in Monterey County. During that time, my husband (then boyfriend) and I would spend weekends visiting beaches, bookstores and seafood eateries.

Our children always enjoy time by the ocean, so when friends said they were going to Monterey after Easter, we decided to tag along. It had been more than eight years since our last trip to the aquarium when our daughter was merely 9 months old!

One of our first stops was at a small beach near Fisherman’s Wharf where our daughter concentrated on collecting shells and our son climbed up and down the large, ocean-worn boulders. We reveled in the sheer joy they got out of sand between their toes and being together in such a perfect place.

The next day was spent at the aquarium. Hours and hours of animal feedings, touch pools and movies about the ocean. Just like at the beach, our kids were drawn to different things. My daughter was drawn to the otters, my son to the sharks and octopi.

All they learned became apparent on our long drive home when our son said, “I didn’t know sharks were real.”

“Really?” I asked. “Even though you have a book about sharks and you’ve seen movies?”

“No, no. I just thought they were pretend,” and he rattled off the names of sharks he’d seen at the aquarium.

This was a teaching moment for us as parents. Before actually seeing sharks inside those gigantic tanks, our son thought these creatures were the thing of myth and make believe. Full-color books on the species and several TV documentaries didn’t matter. He needed first-hand experience to truly understand.

Now, he’s fascinated with sharks, poring over his books every day, citing their names and facts to us like a little encyclopedia. Makes me realize just how much we are expected to teach our children and how big a task this truly is. 

written for http://blog.sacramentoparent.com/