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Tag: empathy

  • What If Kids Are Learning More At Home

    If they cancel the rest of the school year, students would miss approx 6 months of education. Many people are concerned about students falling behind because of this. Yes, they may fall behind when it comes to classroom education…

    BUT WHAT IF ….

    What if instead of falling “behind”, this group of kids are ADVANCED because of this? Hear me out.

    What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing.

    What if they enjoy the simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet.

    What if they notice the birds and the dates the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?

    What if this generation are the ones to learn to cook, organize their space, do their laundry, and keep a well run home?

    What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less?

    What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home.

    What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?

    What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff, just to name a few of the millions taking care of us right now while we are sheltered in place?

    What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life to truly learn what really matters in this life?

    What if they are AHEAD? 🙏🏼🏡♥️🏫
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  • Growing up around mental illness 

    Growing up around mental illness
    Normal childhood, my parents would take me out all the time

    But from what seemed like nowhere my mother got agoraphobia

    Obviously this didn’t just come from nowhere, but to the mind of a child, it just appeared
    One weekend going all over the country to visit family or friends or whatever, then… BAM! Can’t leave the house
    “Can I have a lift to dads?”

    “I’m sorry, we can’t”
    “Can I go to the park?”

    “Not today”
    “Mum, Emily is having a sleepover, can I go?”

    “Another time”
    “Can I go on the school trip to Italy?”

    “We can’t afford it, and it’s a very long time to be away”
    I never envy or feel bitter about the fact I couldn’t do what I always wanted, don’t get me wrong it wasn’t always a “no” or “another time”

    My parents did their best to maintain a “normal” childhood for me
    Except for the fact, they relied on me.
    I’d be out with friends and my mobile would ring “can you come home, we’re having a bad time”

    And I’d return, to help diffuse the situation of a panic attack
    It’s always been described to me as an elastic band of safety

    The elastic band used to cover a larger area, but over time it’s gotten smaller and smaller.

    To the point my parents are stuck in the house for the most part
    But, while I never got to do all of the things I wanted to when I was younger, I was taught skills of empathy, care, compassion and the importance of family to a degree I’m proud of.

    My parents are my everything, and every day I hope it’s a good day for their sake.
    I am forever grateful of my childhood, it led to me being who I am today
    A daughter, a wife, a mother and a nurse
    I am forever grateful.