Fast Food - Slow Food

On a recent car ride from school to baseball practice, my 5-year-old son asked what we were having for dinner.  He asked, "Is it fast food or slow food?"

I immediately thought I'm a terrible mother!  How awful is it that my 5-year-old has eaten more fast food than home cooked meals in the past month?  How sad is it that my 2-year-olds first word was, "Culvers!"

image from http://www.pdclipart.org

I allowed myself a small pity party after hearing my son's comment, but then I decided to do some reflecting and see how it might apply to other areas of my life.  I'm currently taking two summer classes at UNO for my Ed.D in Educational Leadership and in both classes, professors have mentioned two things:

1. "This program is not a sprint...it's a marathon!"  
2. Enjoy the process!

In a world of instant gratification and where everything seems to fly by at a rocket's pace, it becomes increasingly difficult to pace myself and slow down enough to enjoy the process.

image from http://www.pdclipart.org

In the past week, I have read The Influencer, The Students are Watching, The 100/0 Principle, The Year of Learning Dangerously, and several pages from Peter Senge's Schools That Learn.  Did I mention that one of my summer classes was only 3 days and the other one meets Mondays and Wednesdays for 6 weeks?  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the varied class formats UNO provides, but I'm starting to wonder if things will ever slow down enough for me to really enjoy them.  I guess that is what a marathon runner learns to do...set a steady pace to enjoy the run and know that there is an end in sight, but it's going to take awhile.

I haven't done much reflecting on what I've read thus far.  Everything is in bulleted notes in Evernote.  This week has definitely been a "fast food" type of week, but I'm looking forward to meeting with my group to process.

Link to Senge's Notes

Link to The Students are Watching Notes

Link to The Influencer Notes

Link to 100/0 Principle Notes