Violence, Waldorf Style

We recently celebrated the Spring Festival at Luke's school. Activities included making cloth butterflies, blowing bubbles, and digging in the dirt. But the climax of the day was when each child was crowned with a wreath of flowers and we all danced around the May pole. It was hot, it was late, and five songs on the teacher's flute were just a bit much. Luke got in a chest puffing, spitting, yelling match with the twins, Van and Elvis, which climaxed in Luke tearing Van's crown off of his head and throwing it to the ground. Van burst into tears.

Aaah, these little boys that attend the Waldorf school. They dance their little gnomes around in the flowers but also use the driftwood to make toy guns. For a full year, the game of choice for the boys was "trap house." From what I can gather, this game had a slightly different meaning for each of them, but for Luke it meant building a machine (with chunks of wood, pieces of silk cloth, wooden kitchen tools and play stands) that would catch and kill the enemy. Unfortunately, the enemy could be someone from school.

While the days of trap house seem to be fading, the conflict at school remains present. The night of the Spring Festival incident, Luke and I said his standard guardian angel prayer, but he interrupted my singing later to add, "And God, please take care of Van and Elvis." Then, he told me, by way of explanation, "We are supposed to pray for our enemies."