Lasting Impressions

I'm home for the second day with a sick little one, and it has given me some time to think about a conversation I had the other day with some co-workers.  We were talking about the importance of connecting with the kids we work with on a daily basis. It brought me back to my job as a direct care worker at a very special place.

Years ago, when I worked at Divine Providence (a residential institution for girls & women with disabilities) I was struck by a message shared with us by a priest during a community mass.  It was a story that described how every single interaction with a human being, child or adult, disabled or not, created an impression.  

Imagine the child as a ball of clay.  Every person who has contact with the clay, creates an impression.  Even if it seemed trivial, or fleeting,  even a minor interaction would  leave a fingerprint.  Regardless of how little it seemed, it still mattered.  It still left something lasting, tied to the person who held it in their hand.  Over time, the clay gets handled frequently, but HOW it is handled matters.  If it's treated gently, it remains in it's shape, pliable.  If it is roughed up, or forcibly handled, over time it becomes less pliable, hardens, dries up and crumbles.  It's kind of what happens to children who can't catch a break.  The kids who don't have someone looking out for them.

Maybe in that child's life, that ball of clay, gets tossed around, no one noticing how it is roughed up, disfigured, drying up, hardening....then what do we end up with?  A child lost.  The kids we see on the news.  The kids who end up hating their life, and everything around them.  


Teachers have an important role in this story...we interact with so many children throughout the day.  I saw this TED talk video today, and it seemed to make perfect sense.  It's worth watching.  Focus on the good.  Focus on the relationship.  Build kids up, and they won't let us down.

Have a great day~
{Jenn}