"We Probably Learned It From You"

Much of what we do as preschool teachers is to plant seeds. Sometimes we get to see them sprout and grow, but quite often we never really get to see what happens with those seeds. For instance, we sing the song Little Boxes in school. On the surface, we're using it as way to talk about the concepts of "same" and "different," but at a deeper level I hope that some day, and that day will come, when someone is trying to get them to do something they'd rather not do, they hear those words in their heads and think, Hey! That person is trying to put me into a little box! 

I've been teaching Luella for three years now. On Monday, she was building with our giant "Lincoln Logs." A friend invited her to play elsewhere. She declined. The friend wouldn't take "no" for an answer and began to badger her, first trying gentle pleading, then ramping up to foot stomping and threats.

That's when I heard it: "I'll be the boss of me, you be the boss of you." Those are my words! That's one of my seeds!

Later I shared this story with her mom Molly, who I see almost every day because her son is now enrolled in our Pre-3's class. She said, "We've been using that phrase at home, especially when she's bossing Gio around. We probably learned it from you." 

I'll live off this for weeks!

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