Our first contributor!! Her name is Andrea and
I’ve known her since high school and we go to the same University. Over the
past four years we've shared lunch dates, facebook messages and random run ins
between classes. She was one of the first people I messaged about this project
and true to form, when I asked if she would contribute she responded with the
following piece immediately. That’s just classic Andrea; the most loyal girl
you could ever meet. She’s also super sarcastic, and has a wicked sense of
humour, but it’s the kindness in her heart that make this girl so awesome to be
around. Thanks for being so supportive and writing so soon girl!
Over the past 6 months I have become very close with the family I have been nannying and babysitting for. In particular I have really connected with their toddler who we'll call R. He has a very mischievous and occasionally aggressive attitude about him, and like most toddlers has perfected the art of not listening.
A few weeks ago, I had him put a band aid on his baby sister and explained that it hurts when he pushes her and he has to be more thoughtful, so he must put a band aid on her and kiss her better because that is how you take care of people. Whether he was taking any of this in or not I had no idea but he didn't push her again for an hour so, naturally, I felt like super-nanny!
Then about a week ago my teenage brother broke his arm and wasn't really getting out of the house, so I dragged him along to babysit the tots with me (despite his alleged dislike of children). When we arrived at their house and noticed R eyeing my brother's not yet casted arm I got a little worried - he observed it from afar and then got up and ran to the kitchen on the hunt for something.
He came running back to my brother and said (spoken as a 2 year old) "you got a ouch? I give you my spideyman band aid and give your owie a kiss, cuz then it feel all better" So off he went putting a spiderman band aid and a big slobbery kiss on my near 6 foot tall giant of a brother.
To sum up, my MOG was that moment when I realised that he had listened to me all those weeks ago, and I had made a difference. Even if it appears someone isn't listening, keep trying, because you just might get through to them when you least expect it.
Over the past 6 months I have become very close with the family I have been nannying and babysitting for. In particular I have really connected with their toddler who we'll call R. He has a very mischievous and occasionally aggressive attitude about him, and like most toddlers has perfected the art of not listening.
A few weeks ago, I had him put a band aid on his baby sister and explained that it hurts when he pushes her and he has to be more thoughtful, so he must put a band aid on her and kiss her better because that is how you take care of people. Whether he was taking any of this in or not I had no idea but he didn't push her again for an hour so, naturally, I felt like super-nanny!
Then about a week ago my teenage brother broke his arm and wasn't really getting out of the house, so I dragged him along to babysit the tots with me (despite his alleged dislike of children). When we arrived at their house and noticed R eyeing my brother's not yet casted arm I got a little worried - he observed it from afar and then got up and ran to the kitchen on the hunt for something.
He came running back to my brother and said (spoken as a 2 year old) "you got a ouch? I give you my spideyman band aid and give your owie a kiss, cuz then it feel all better" So off he went putting a spiderman band aid and a big slobbery kiss on my near 6 foot tall giant of a brother.
To sum up, my MOG was that moment when I realised that he had listened to me all those weeks ago, and I had made a difference. Even if it appears someone isn't listening, keep trying, because you just might get through to them when you least expect it.
It's Mary here, this is a comment I got from a friend,
ReplyDelete"Andrea's moment of gratitude was possibly the nicest thing to remind us as future teachers that we have the potential to make a difference. If it's okay with her, I'm going to print that post and put it up on my wall".