I was lying in bed with my four-year-old while he was waking up the other morning. He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and I was reading a draft of a blog post that was a revision or two away from publication. I was reading it to him because it was about him.

The post (my most recent) highlighted a trip to the library. He listened intently as I read.

Afterward I asked what he thought. He said, “Good,” and then he said, “And don’t forget the one when we went swimming at the pool…and the one when I fell off the porch…and the one when…” He went on for a few minutes in that fashion.

Kids lead very important lives. They’re not running for congress or winning the Nobel prize (typically), but the stuff they are doing represents the fibers that make them whole.

As parents and educators we should be careful to recognize and appreciate how important and impactful each child’s daily experiences are.

We have to remember that every child is unique and that each child needs our attention and support as much as the next.

Being charged with responsibility for so many children has the potential to leave parents and educators focused on the ones who’s needs are the most obvious.

We must remember that even when children keep quiet about the amazing adventures they’re having and/or the intense challenges they’re facing, those adventures are no less amazing and those challenges are no less intense.

Two things:

1. Kids believe they’re capable of the things they value and they tend to value the things they’re capable of. Sometimes I find myself thinking that there are limits to human potential because history hasn’t proven our full capacity. Even worse, sometimes I forget that the impossible is actually possible as evidenced by ongoing human achievement.

People can fly, we can go to the moon and even Mars, we can explore the depths of the ocean and we can still discover things that would have otherwise been amalgams of our collective imaginations and what’s just outside of our collective imaginations. The possibilities are truly limitless, only stifled at times by self doubt and narrow vision. We can help our children a avoid both.

2. Every kid’s every moment is just as important as every other kid’s every moment.

If you find yourself slipping into a paradigm of diverting attention where attention is obviously needed, try to remember how obvious it is that all of the children you serve require your attention.

They each need to be cared about. They each need to be celebrated. They each need to be guided and provided with structure and security. They each need to be trusted and given opportunities to gain trust through genuine relationship building. They each need to know that you know how incredible they are. They each need to be regarded as the brilliant, capable, unique treasures that they each are.

Parents and educators are about to become intensely busy in a different way as the school year begins. Let’s all work hard to savor each precious moment and give every child in our care every opportunity to experience success…during every moment of every day!

Live. Learn. Lead.
Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.