LA MAMÁ DE LA MAMÁ DE LA MÁMA DE LA MAMÁ
Guiding ideas:
Ancestors, death, the cycle of life — your mom has a mom who had a mom...
Ingredients for today’s Lab:
Dima (Leo’s pregnant mom), photographs, postcards, the HUGE box, and worms.
What just happened?!:
Today we continued exploring ancestry and connection. Eva began by sharing a family tree that showed “la mamá de la mamá de Ona” (her daughter), the mamá of her papá, and the papá of her papá, branches reaching upward and downward, forming a living web that eventually led back to Ona and Eva. Together, we discovered that every single one of us comes from a mother, that we all have roots, and that this is how the great cycle of life continues.
With Wendy, the amigues explored the worms, creatures that live underground, returning what has fallen back to the earth and helping new life grow. We talked about how worms, in their quiet work, are also part of this same cycle: transforming what was once alive into nourishment for what is yet to come. The children noticed how the worms connected to the stories of our ancestors, helping us see that nothing really disappears, it just changes form.
To deepen this reflection, Nicole shared a photograph of herself and her sister, each holding a picture of themselves as little girls. The amigues immediately noticed how the two photos seemed to fold time, showing that life keeps moving forward, that we all grow, and that even when things change, our stories stay connected.
From there, conversations bloomed like vines stretching across generations:
LIVNEH: “I remember when I was in my mama’s belly. There was air and blood and bones and food. It was yucky!”
SUNNY: “My grandma was a princess.”
REY: “Did you know I used to be pregnant with my mom?”
The children’s words echoed through the room like living roots and tunnels, reminding us that memory, imagination, and ancestry intertwine, just like the branches of the tree Eva first showed us and the pathways the worms quietly weave beneath the soil.
