All About Me

This is a photo of my little family.  My husband, Kevin, is a garage door mechanic. (Who knew that was an actual job?  Not me, before we met.)  We have been married for 8 years.  My daughter, Reghan, will be 7 in July.  She is finishing her first grade year out as a homeschool student with Yours Truly as her teacher.  My son, Deklan, will be 2 in August.  He goes to school with me each day.  He is very social and loves school. 

Early childhood is so important.  According to Bill Gates, "the first five years have so much to do with how the next 80 turn out."  I have to say that I agree with him.  Young children are sponges.  They want to see and feel and touch and explore the entire world surrounding them. If you've never stepped foot into an early childhood learning center, you're missing out.  Those little children will hug you and talk to you for hours if allowed.  They will read you a book and ask you 100 questions, in five minutes time.  It is a special feeling, one that you can almost not describe.  It's euphoria.  For those five minutes, you are the BEST thing in that small child's life. 

As a young teacher, I had many four and five year olds grace my classroom.  I loved them all.  But, there's always one or two that really steal your heart.  My favorite was D.  (Name protected, just in case.)  He loved me.  And I loved him.  D had a few emotional issues, that he really struggled to control.  His father was not in the picture and his mom was trying everything she could to do right by him.  D had outbursts in the classroom.  The other children knew not to go near him when he started yelling, and throwing, and raging.  It was sad, to an extent.  He just could not control his anger.  But, when he was having a good day, D could sit and build with blocks and Legos for hours.  He had a great smile, very toothy, and his eyes almost sparkled.  During one of D's rough days, he had destroyed my classroom.  Bookshelves flipped, toy bins spilled everywhere, chairs upside down. It was a mess.  The rest of the children in the room huddled in a corner giving D all the space he needed.  I had had to restrain him from hurting anyone or himself.  I held him in my arms, between my legs and we just sat.  When he finally stopped screaming in anger, and his tears changed from said anger to sadness, he turned his head and looked up at me, and said, "I'm sorry.  I can't stop.  I love you."  My heart broke for this little boy.  But also, I loved him.  That moment solidified my Why, my reason for being an early childhood educator.  I became a teacher to help children: to influence their early development years; to teach them core values that they will need later in life; to love them. I believe that in that one year of being D's teacher, I helped him work through life issues that were honestly too big for such a little person.  But I was there and I cared.  I eventually lost touch with his mom, and at this point, he is almost a teenager.  I'd like to think that I helped play a role in who he is today.