Being a kid is tough...

 

"Bitter are the tears of a child: Sweeten them.
Deep are the thoughts of a child: Quiet them.
Sharp is the grief of a child: Take it from him.
Soft is the heart of a child: Do not harden it."
      -Pamela Glenconner

 

 

I love Pamela Glenconner's quote because this is the way every one in child care should feel. She captured my feelings perfectly. It is always my goal, regardless of who, what, when, or how we in this child care field should always want to wipe tears of sorrow away and replace them with only tears of happiness, take away any stress or fears, and do our best to only raise a child's moral. I know with my students, they know they can come and talk to me about anything with no judgment. Sometime we are the only ones that really care about this kids, so it is our obligation to be that shoulder to cry on or that hand to guide them in the right direction.

 

 

One of my favorite children's books of all time as to be "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. The book is about the love of parents to a child, but also the love of the child back to those parents. During the book the quote,, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be,” is repeated over and over. I showed my mom this book and we immediately started crying because it is completely true about the love and child and parents should have. I saw my mother and grandmother having this type of relationship growing up and when my grandmother got too old and sick to take care of herself, my mom appreciatively traded places with her and took care of her. I know I would/will do the same for my mom. This book defiantly finds that soft spot in peoples hearts and minds, bringing up feelings you didn't know you had or didn't want to share. We all have special things that we pass on child to child within families, this book just puts those actions on paper.  It is awesome, I know I will read this book to my son.

A child that touched my heart was when I was a substitute in 2011, and had to opportunity to be a long term replacement for a first grade teacher out with the flu. In this class there was one particular little boy that caught my attention. This little boy was smaller then everyone, had clothes that was not "up-to-date" and too small, very quite, but happy. Shortly after being introduced to the class as their teacher while the other lady was out, the teacher's aid came to me and stated that the same boy that I noticed earlier was a "trouble-maker". I asked why she felt that way. The aid quickly let me know that his family was dysfunctional and he never did his work, he was late every day to school, and frequently talked back and even used vulgar language towards adults. The things she was telling me, to be honest, kind of scared and stunned me. This kid looked so innocent and beat down. I made it my mission to help this little boy, or at least figure out the break in the chain. That afternoon when I was handing out homework, I made sure to give him a little extra attention. Later that night I went to a REC basketball game where I accidentally saw the little boy. I made sure to go talk to him and even introduced myself to his dad. I reminded the boy about the homework and told him I looked forward to seeing him the next day. The next day at school he came in a little late, but he was still there. The aid immediately began to yell at him and was ready to send him to the office to receive detention for getting his third tardy. I asked the aid to talk outside, and explained that by yelling at him in front of his peers and giving him detention was not going to help the situation at all. Of course she from then on she hated me, but she left the little boy alone. After that I would be sure to allow the little boy to answer questions, read loud, be the leader of group time. Eventually he became more confident and  actually seemed to want to come to school. I felt like I had saved a little boy from becoming a troubled young man. I was only at this school for a month, so I am not sure what happened to him after I left, but I sure hope I had a lastly positive influence on him and the aid.

 



I know this image isn't technically a drawing, but I still love it. This is a Christmas Tree that is made from my son's little feet.  I love this drawing because it is not only artwork, but it is a like a time-stop image. I will save this paper forever as my little boy's first Christmas, my first gift from my son, and a documentation of how little and innocent my little man was in 2012. LOVE IT!

I have this passion to serve and help others. It seems like once the kids get to me in high school, it feels like I am too late to help or "save" them. I feel like I need to go to the beginning of the story of these kids' lives. I know I can make a difference, maybe not in every child or parent I come in contact with, but I know I can help many of them.