I was introduced to this phrase today by a 16 year old student with Asperger’s Syndrome whom I have the pleasure of visiting periodically at his high school. He used it to comment on a situation in which there was on-going needless arguing on the part of students and staff regarding getting something done. I have been laughing about this all day whenever I think of him saying it – and I have thought of a number of potentially relevant ways to apply this:
1) How often do we try to explain, and rationalize, and explain some more to try to make our kids understand where we are coming from? We can’t just make our point and let it go without allowing ourselves to get caught up in arguments and justifications. Well…the wheel’s still spinning, but the hamster’s dead!
2) What about times when we can’t just stop something while it’s going well with our kids. No, we have to try to eek out one more minute, one more thing to do, one more push to get something accomplished. Well, the wheel’s still spinning, but the hamster’s dead!
3) Do you ever find yourself continually caught up in the same self-defeating mindset? Things aren’t ever going to get better; everything feels so hard to accomplish; there are so many things to try to tackle at once that it seems useless to try. Well, the wheel’s still spinning, but the hamster’s dead!
4) How about what we frequently do in schools – try to apply the same unproductive strategies to problems, and then wonder why the results are never any different. Well, the wheel’s still spinning, but the hamster’s dead!
If any of these scenarios applies to you, make the decision to stop running in an endless cycle that gets you nowhere fast. Jump off before it’s too late! Don’t be the dead hamster on the wheel that keeps on spinning!
Until next week,
Nicole
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