To Fully Attend
"To attend" can mean to be present, to deal with, to occur alongside. Often I am concerned with the first definition, being fully present each day so that I can better teach my children as a profitable moment arises or giving my undivided attention to the particular moment which enables me to see beyond myself to the needs of others. But tonight as I am digesting two days of instruction on education after our Classical Conversations practicum and one day of training in PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), a system of communication for those with expressive disorders, I am thinking of the sense in which attend means to listen . I listen to my children differently on different days . Sometimes it takes much concentration and focus to listen to the story of an imaginary character and his numerous escapades. Other times, I delight in the creative details. Sometimes I hear the frustration and pain behind the complaint. Other times, I am annoyed by the complain