One of my storytime regulars said the nicest things to me today – so nice that I just had to share them, though I know it comes close to blatant self-promotion…<\/p>\n
This storytime regular (who drives in from another town) has been coming to my storytimes for a few years now, first with just her oldest son, then with both of her sons once the younger was born.\u00a0 Their family has come to my Mother Goose on the Loose storytimes for a long time, and then the oldest son grew older and they also\u00a0started coming\u00a0to my Storytime for 2’s & 3’s.\u00a0 And today they tried out my Art & Stories for 4’s & 5’s for the first time.\u00a0 As the kids in the group settled in to their art project, this mom came up to me and said, “Abby, you are phenomenal.\u00a0 You’re good with all the ages – some people are only good with one age, but you’re good with them all.\u00a0 You’re phenomenal.”\u00a0 She went on to say some other really nice things, all of which made me feel appreciated and understood in a way that I haven’t in a long while.<\/p>\n
And then later we were chatting again as I rinsed out paint-filled Chobani containers and messy paintbrushes.\u00a0 I mentioned that my mother had been a teacher, and that she had always wanted me to be a teacher, too, grooming me from an early age; Mom even brought me with her to work when she was a preschool teacher and I was ten or eleven, putting me to work with the kids and talking me through how to work with them.\u00a0 “The sad thing is,” I said, “my mother never lived to see me in this job.\u00a0 Which is a shame.”\u00a0 And this lovely storytime regular said to me – bringing tears to my eyes then and now – “I bet your mom knows exactly what you’re doing, and that she’s watching and smiling down on you.”\u00a0 And then she went on to say, “It’s definitely in your blood, teaching.\u00a0 You’re a teacher-librarian, that’s what you are.”<\/p>\n
So here I am tooting my own horn, but also expressing gratitude to someone who did what we all should do more often, but don’t: telling another person that you value and appreciate them.\u00a0 It’s such a great feeling to know that you’re making a difference in the world, because I know that there are many days that go by where I’m not sure if what I’m doing is having any impact.\u00a0 Today, happily, is not one of those days.\u00a0 Today I am reassured that what I do every day is worth doing.\u00a0 Thank you!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of my storytime regulars said the nicest things to me today – so nice that I just had to share them, though I know it comes close to blatant self-promotion… This storytime regular (who drives in from another town) has been coming to my storytimes for a few years now, first with just her … Continue reading Tooting my own horn<\/span>