A RODENT IN THE HOLE - AND TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION

It's all a learning experience.

In my lifetime and work history, I've spent a lot of time training others. If the overall training was to be in-depth and extensive, often I wouldn't really count the first day. During the first day, I'd tell the trainee just to watch and listen. I would let them know that if they didn't learn anything by the end of the day, it was okay. All I was doing was trying to provide them with a "frame of reference."

I wanted what they were exposed to on the first day to look somewhat familiar on the following days. Since many may have never seen anything like the job that we were doing before, they would have no frame of reference prior to that. When I raise my children, I like to do things in a similar manner. During my entire lifetime, I've never really seen or done a lot of the things that we are up to now. It took me over thirty years to get exposed to it. If I can expose my children to it later, things will at least look familiar later on if they ever encounter a similar project in the future.

This morning, I sent Pinkie-Pepper down in our root cellar hole. The goal was to have her observe what she saw and photograph it. It wasn't just the overall project, but those tiny little creatures that showed up in the hole overnight. Photography is one of those things for which she already has a frame of reference, and she's getting better. Check it out!