Hello, everyone!
I'm sure you've all heard the news by now about the two-year old who is missing after begging dragged away by an alligator after wading in a pool. This comes only a few weeks after a child fell into a gorilla pen.
It's very easy and therefore tempting for our first thought to be, "Where were that child's parents? Didn't they see the signs? What were they thinking?"
But take a minute to think about child in your classroom. You know the one that needs a little extra love. The one that's across the room cutting hair in the blink of an eye. The one that keeps making escape attempts. The one who feels like they take every minute of your eight hours a day, because they never sleep. The one who of course you love, but are secretly relieved when they're out a day.
Now imagine the parents. Imagine them spending 12 hours with this child, attempting to get them to sleep, get them ready in the morning for their big trip. It doesn't help that the child is excited. Imagine the long car ride and the battles, large and small, that must occur constantly.
My own nephew (turning 3 already in July!) is like this. I love him and I know his parents are great people who only want the best for him. But he has tons of energy. Last time they visited, we all had to keep a very careful eye on him or he'd be across the street before we knew it.
So next time you hear about a tragedy like this and someone blames the parents, remind them what it's like. Because we've all been there.
Until next time!
Love, Amy
