YES!!! In my position I remind teachers weekly that it is their job to meet the children “where they are”. The children are right where they are supposed to be. If a child needs to be held all day, hold him/her. He/she will not learn until that emotional need is met.  

I remind teachers that they are not preparing children for the next level by pushing them to do things that they will be learning when they get to that next stage. Be there today.  

This is also true for the teachers you work with. Remember to meet teachers “where they are at” as well. What do they need to be successful in the moment. And parents. what do they need to feel heard, supported, successful in their role. Ultimately we are all the same!

What do you need right now?

Taking life too seriously and it shows. I am too busy and forgetting to smile. Acting like everything is an emergency, forgetting to slow down and take in wonder and enjoy each day. 

I am afraid to act, speak up, and protect the honor of children. 

I see things that dishonor children yet I don’t speak up. I’d be hoarse and blue in the face! I am careful and cautious not to over step BUT WHY?!? I am an expert in the field of early childhood education. Why do we lose our voices? Why are we afraid to speak up? What are we afraid of?

Why are we afraid to fight for children’s rights to a quality early learning system with highly competent and highly compensated educators? When will we wake up?

I commit to taking one step at a time. I commit to keeping it simple and not overbearing. I commit with a smile and one to share.

What are you afraid of? How are you facing your fear?

Today has me reflecting on the passage of time. Do I always make the best use of children’s time? We cannot waste their time! They have no time to waste in childhood.  

The brain develops in the first few years of life at 1 million synapses per second. Phenomenal……….do you think we have time to waste!?!? 

Time passes so quickly, ages and stages fly by. How do we capture these moments and use them wisely?  

Do I always make the best use of my time? 

Are we making the most of our everyday? We should not wait to BE something else, thinner, fitter, smarter, etc. The time to act is now. Whatever your passion is there is no guarantee for tomorrow. Act today. Today I will love more deeply and cherish each moment. I will wonder all day. I will not waste children’s time.

Our first summer together, how many more will we have? 10 years…………we’ve done so much, come so far, like childhood, do we have time to waste? How long will our health last, our agility, our eyesight? 

I am always looking for the silver lining in situations. While I was busy complaining about something irrelevant, I saw this rainbow and my perspective shifted!

I was now ready to face the day with a positive attitude.

I will be watching for moments when I need to swift my perspective or help someone to possibly shift their perspective. 

What will you do to make it a great day? 

Why do “we” treat children differently than we would want to be treated?  I have witnessed so many instances this week of indiscretions (in my opinion).  

• Withholding milk until you eat some “good food”, why does this teacher not recognize this child is thirsty? 
• Runny noses not wiped, dirty feet not cleaned off, dirty faces not cleaned once activities have completed, the children are not yet old enough to attend to these things, what is this teacher’s perspective? 
• Comments like, “you’re OK” to a crying child, who is clearly not “OK”, what are this teachers own emotional needs, can he/she recognize and honor a child’s emotions? 
• Taking things/toys/materials away rather than teaching the children how to use them
• Moving children too quickly through things, what is the hurry?
• Interrupting what children are doing 

Why do we make excuses like, “I don’t have time”, “not right now”, with no explanation? As adults we would not want to be treated like this at all.

Think about it!

It’s your job!!! 

How do any of us get so complacent about our own well being?? I know full well that I must take care of myself in order to be there and take care of others YET………….. 

I injured myself shoveling several months ago and have finally sought physical therapy to get back to “normal”. How did I let my injured normal become my new normal? When did that happen? Why did that happen?

I have been favoring one side of my body and now need re-training to get back to “normal”. I cannot help but think about how often we get “tricked” into these norms which do not NEED to be normal at all! To avoid pain I did something new that injured me further. 

In education how often are we accepting the “way it’s always done” losing our voices and perhaps even our normal if we are being asked to act in ways that are not comfortable to us.

Do we become complacent and do things a “new” way to avoid the pain of being uncomfortable? Are we sometimes blinded by someone else’s ambition, drive or curriculum demands that we at heart do not believe?

This week I will watch for my inaction due to discomfort. How are we injuring ourselves, colleagues and the CHILDREN we work with by acting complacent when we ‘know” better. Eye opening…………… 

What is it that you “know better” than to do yet you still do it?

Our infant class was enjoying some time outside on a blanket. One of the teachers was holding a larger swaddled infant, rocking her, the teacher had shorts on that day.

Our little who had discarded her muddy undies the day before (see Wonder Reflection #16) but had to have some clothing on, kept trying to tell this teacher something while rubbing the teacher’s legs.

Another teacher realized our concerned little was saying “where are your underpants?” You see, no clothing was visible with the infant on the teachers lap! Good for a laugh as our teacher had to show our little she had pants on!! 

What did you laugh about today?

How many times a day do we miss opportunities? Could we improve this number by being intentional and present?  

How often do we over think and try to control situations where the children know best? Trust them!

While enjoying some warm weather and mud play, one of our older two-year-old girls did not want to keep on her muddy underwear. She was asked to have at least underwear on.

A little bit later one of the teacher’s discovered her naked bottom and discarded undies. She was taken inside to get a fresh pair of undies so she could continue her outdoor play. I observation that she did not go back into the mud hill even though no one told her not too after being cleaned up.  She knew what she needed/wanted. Trust her! 

Also, the yearly debate of shoes on or shoes off in the outdoor classroom came up. I am a firm believer of shoes off but every year we to go through these steps. First, list the benefits of shoes off. Second listen to the arguments from teachers. Third compromise that if children want shoes off they can take them off. Fourth, watch that there are, every year, only 2-3 children who consistently want to go barefoot walking on our rough surfaces.

After trying to navigate wood chips, slippery mud, hot cement they choose keep shoes on. After cut toes, they keep shoes on. The adult conversation ceases and soon children have shoes off in the sand only except for our few perpetually shoe-less children.

What was everyone worried about? Same course of action every year! Trust the children! 

I had the pleasure of covering a teacher in the one-year-old classroom. I was sitting on the floor when child #1, age 16 months came over to see me. She “knows” me and was very busy discovering my hands and bracelet, ears and earrings. She was “talking” and responding to me. I narrated her actions and asked her open ended questions.  

While this was happening I had one eye on a 14 month old who looked skeptical about my being there. I’ll call her child #2.  Child #2 was giving me “the eye”.  After about 5 minutes child #1 was done investigating me and she walked off.

I continued to sit on the floor and before I knew it along crawled child #2. She looked at me and proceeded to mimic, action for action, what child #1 had done to me. She climbed into my lap and investigated me in the same order with the same curiousness that child #1 had demonstrated! 

This was a purely magical moment for me to realize child #2 had watched the whole interaction between child #1 and me and then she copied it! If only we would all take in these moments and get what our impact really is!

Love, love, love these moments that should make up our entire day. 

What amazed you today?

This week I am sharing a love story……….. 

The father of my husband’s best friend passed away at age 94 on March 29, 2019. He flew his final mission on the 74th anniversary of his liberation from a German POW camp. He was at home and surrounded by his family. He was a teacher, mentor and second family to us. It was an honor to know him. 

Amazingly his wife of 6 years passed away just days later! She was a shining light who came into all our lives in 2012 when “he” and “she” reconnected. You see they were high school sweethearts. WWII found them going their separate ways. They reconnected 60 years later. Both had been married and were widowed. They were married in 2013.  

They were cared for by his grandson, his wife and 2 young daughters. The love in this inter-generational household was a wonder to behold. Be like them and the world would be a much happier place!

Hold your loved ones close today (and everyday!)