Christian Montessori Fellowship

Putting things away

Putting things away is even more important than getting them out. Life is a different kind of three period lesson all of its own. Anticipation, Discovery, Reality. You see it in the classroom and you experience it in life. (In the classroom) First, you have the anticipation of a new lesson. Then you have the joy of discovery of what the lesson offers. Finally, you have the reality of having to put it away. Reality is always changing because it has different parts to it. One reality in the classroom is that I don’t want to put it away because I am still enjoying working with it. A second reality of the classroom is that I may be tired from the exertion – both physical and mental – and I don’t want to put it away. A third reality is that I may have wrung out every bit of flavor from the exercise (like old gum) and now I’m bored with it and would rather not finish but move on to other more exciting things.

Helping our children put things away with the same attention to care and detail is a life lesson. Many of us start projects and make progress – but it is in finishing that we often fall short. In the classroom, it is getting the last drop of water dried from practical life; it is making sure all of the golden beads are in their own special place. It is the care with which we finish the task that ultimately determines if the task has been done successfully.

The next time you give a presentation make sure the constructive triangles (or anything else) go back in the box as carefully as they were retrieved. It is a life lesson of reality that success goes to who finishes – not who starts.