Being Brave

I read today's post on "Stuff Christians Like" and he had entitled today's entry "Being Brave". If you are curious, you should read it - it's really good. Part of what he mentioned in his post was being as brave as a 6-year old.... and he goes on about that.

But it got me thinking. You would think that I, being a daycare provider, would not forget this important fact, but sometimes I do. Kids are brave. For kids entering daycare it's a BIG deal to be that brave and step away from mom and/or dad to spend the day away from home interacting with a different adult and usually many different kids. It's a REALLY big deal. And these little kids are old enough to form opinions about all this and most of the time, they handle it amazingly well. When I have a new child come into daycare there is usually about a 2-week transition period. All the trainings I've gone to tell you to expect kids to take 6 weeks before they are fully adjusted. Almost all of the kids I've cared for have adjusted in the 2-4 week time frame and by the time they hit 6 weeks it is so familiar for them it feels completely natural. This is part of my job and it's a process I go through with each new child who comes to my home for daycare. And it's not just kids starting or switching daycares. It's the child who is starting preschool for the first time. Every kid who has moved to a new town and has to start over EVERYWHERE new. It's for all those kindergarteners out there this year who are still trying to get used to a million new things. Every kid who has to face something new for the first time gets a chance to be brave.

With Emmy starting kindergarten this year, I sometimes forget how big all of this is for her and how brave she is. Being gone from me all day every day is brand new for her and it's a huge deal for both of us! But she is being so brave - she likes school and she's working through the bumps in the road. So at the end of the day when we are talking through one of the days she fell apart, I need to remember this is all still new and fresh and it's still the adjustment phase. And Bria, she is almost fearless when facing something new - she truly enjoys jumping headfirst into something brand new and exciting. I can't think of the last time she wasn't brave about something new. Both of my girls inspire me to look at life differently - more bravely.

Kids are brave - every new circumstance is truly new to them. They don't have a lot of past life experience to fall back on. Yet, they are brave. You really should check out the Stuff Christians Like blog - this is all verbalized beautifully in today's post. But all of these rambling thoughts make me want to be brave - like a child, like my girls, like all the daycare kids I see come through my door. It's good to be brave. 1995 - Kentucky, Spring Service Project for Northwestern College