What You Think About, You Bring About

Although in the early morning hours the day was off to a rocky start it ended up to be one of the better ones. 

The center always opens at 7:00am, and normally I do not have any children arrive until 7:30am. Generally I will only have three to four children arriving up until 8:45am, but not this morning. Just like I predicted almost every child had recovered from their illness, and I ended up having six children already by 7:20am, which is almost unheard of. Just like in the book “The Secret,” 'What you think about you bring about.’ Now isn’t that the truth.

I felt a little guilty about feeling relieved that the little destroyer was the only child still out sick and didn’t show up, but it was certainly a blessing.

Although it was a very stormy, cloudy, wet, rainy day, it went surprisingly smooth. I think it’s because I did a lot more listening than talking and the children seemed to like that, naturally.

My advice to all parent’s out there - Just Listen;

A had this friend I admired because he seemed to always have others going to him for advice. Everyone who talked to this guy felt better about themselves after talking to him. He was not only naturally skilled at human relations and capable of being nonjudgmental, but he could talk to all different types of people from all walks of life. When I asked him for advice about dealing with a personal issue, he said to me, “The best thing you can do for another is to just listen.”

After thinking about it I realized, he really didn’t do a whole lot of talking. Listening is exactly what he did best and it is the reason others would tell him their most intimate thoughts. Most people want a sounding board, simply a place to vent their thoughts uncensored; someone they feel safe to talk to. It is a way of learning about oneself. Providing a safe arena where another doesn’t feel threatened is an extremely loving thing to do. We don’t have to necessarily solve their problem or ask questions, a simple response of “Awe,” or “I know,” or “I understand,” can be so healing. The same goes with children, the best thing you can do for a young child is to just listen.

Funniest story a parent told me today;

When hugging her tiny three year old girl, this mom squeezed her so tightly that the little child started giggling and said, “You’re squeezing me so tight, mommy” and in response the mother said “I’m going to squeeze you until you pop!” at which time the little girl’s face turned serious and frightened and yelled loudly in honest fear “Nooooooo!”

Very funny. And of course it proves once again that young children have a difficult time distinguishing fantasy from reality.

Funniest ongoing thing that occurs several times a day;

I have this little Italian boy who cannot for the life of him say my name correctly; he seems he has no choice but to add an extra syllable in between Miss and Lori. I am convinced it has something to do with his Italian gene that he has no control over. To give you the best visual image, picture an intense, dark haired smaller than average four year old boy with both hands raised and out to the sides, spaghetti dripping from his mouth. Sometimes in his Italian accent he yells my name across the room, other times he is raising his hand as my name rolls off his tongue. Here's what is so funny to me, instead of calling me Miss Lori, he calls me “Miss…uh…Lori.” I crack up every time. I had attempted various times to assist him in breaking this apparent habit, and failed. I literally sat down at his level, faced him repeating the correct way to pronounce my name and no matter how many times I repeated the correct way he would concentrate and yet still add the sound uh. Now, I just enjoy a good laugh each time. 

It really is the cutest…uh thing…uh you ever heard…uh.

Tacky Glue Soap Box;

Alright you teachers out there, you have to admit that tacky glue is the greatest invention ever– it seriously is the miracle glue. It glues practically any material together, it’s like a safe easy- to- use welding product; I use it for everything from art activities to repairing my cars cracked radiator, well okay that last part is obviously a bit of an embellishment but it really is a remarkable product and you’ve got to love that it dries clear.

Here's a toast to charming intense Italian little boys and the art of listening.

Yay! It's Friday.