Knowing When To Stop

I have to learn to resist the urge to squeeze in that one last thing--a lesson in telling time or shoe-tying--before we stop for lunch. The last little thing I squeeze in never goes well. The Lark is just ready to be done, and I end up feeling like I'm squandering his good will by making him do this thing just for the sake of I don't know what.

I think the reason I do this is that in general I haven't found the right balance between teaching the practical little things that are relatively easy to teach (adding and subtracting, dressing and bathing, playing the piano, doing jumping jacks, coordinating our actions, understanding gestures, etc.) and the big-picture things that are very difficult to even define, let alone teach (narrative thinking, reciprocal thinking, identifying with other people). I end up feeling like I haven't done justice to either area, so I try to squeeze in one last practical thing to make myself feel more productive. When I do strike the right balance, then I feel competent and successful, and I have no trouble stopping. So the trick is to plan our mornings with this balance in mind and to make sure I have at least one good, fun activity that addresses one of the big-picture goals.