What I Learned In The Car Line
At one school in which I worked as a new young teacher, we had parent car pick up line. A teacher opened the car door, the child got in and after they were seat belted a teacher closed the car door. While doing this, I often got to hear the the first thing a child said to his/her parent. “Mommy, Ella was mean to me today!” Or “ I didn’t get to eat my lunch.” Or “Everyone hates me.” For some children this is the default position. A position that guarantees sympathy or in some parents annoyance.
After hearing this several weeks in a row, I was hoping to change the culture for my five year olds and their caregivers. Since we began and ended each day with a class meeting, I thought that this could be the forum to make the changes. Each day I asked, “Who was nice to you today?” The children shared the names of their classmates.” Or “What is the most interesting (or fun) experience you had today.” Our day ended on a positive note and often resulted in sharing the positive experiences with the caregiver.
Do you have a friend or worse yet, a spouse who dwells on the negative? Hmmm. Who was nice to you today?
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