Becoming a parent changes you. There are the subtle changes - the change in sleep patterns, the change in amount of "me" time, the change in what defines a typical Saturday night. But the real change is much deeper. It is powerful.
You are Reinvented.
You are Redefined.
You are MOM.
You are DAD.
The way you experience life is completely different.
You are forever changed.
I had my first child almost six years ago. I now have two beautiful, miraculous daughters, and here I sit - CHANGED.
I am Reinvented.
I am Redefined.
I am forever changed.
Before I became a mother, I was the Director of a very successful and well-respected childcare center and preschool called Little Friends. I was compassionate, and I had warm relationships with the parents. I really thought I could relate to how they felt when they left their children with us for the day. I thought I understood, but there's no way I possibly could. One can have all of the empathy in the world, but it is simply NOT the same as SYMPATHY. It is not the same as being able to relate, personally relate, to that raw, visceral experience of leaving your child in the care of a virtual stranger for the very first time. It is not the same as knowing, in your heart, how it feels to be separated from your child - to trust SOMEONE ELSE to care for her needs, give her hugs, kiss her boo boos, help her settle down for a nap.
Now I know.
I KNOW.
I AM CHANGED.
I AM MOM.
I loved Little Friends. All told I spent ten of my first thirty three years there. My time there deeply influenced the way my husband and I have chosen to raise our children. The wonderful philosophy of the school changed the way I look at many things: health and nutrition, media exposure, the types of toys we choose for our children, the importance of time outdoors, the desire to hold back the fast paced nature of the world we live in for just a while longer. There is NO DOUBT in my mind that I am a better parent today because of the time I spent at Little Friends.
The universe works in mysterious ways. It had become clear that there was a need for me to rejoin the world of the working - outside of the home. I was thinking part time. I was unsure what I wanted to do. I reached out, made that first step...put it out there...and then it happened. Suddenly I found myself faced with an amazing opportunity. A school - the school - was waiting for me:
Reinvented,
Redefined,
Forever changed,
(MOM) me.
The interesting thing about life, is that it leads you where you need to go. This may be different from where you thought you needed to go, and sometimes it seems to make no sense. But every once in a while, you have a moment. It is a moment of recognition. Life begins to lead you down a path that is new, yet feels familiar, comfortable even...and you suddenly grin at the realization that everything that has come before has been leading you here - to THIS. For me, this is that path. This is that moment. It all makes sense. My experience at Little Friends prepared me to be a better mother, and in turn my experience as a mother has prepared me for a different sort of birth. Introducing...
We had full-day faculty meeting today at Bloom. I wanted to pass on a little anecdote that was shared. Last week there were two little boys in the preschool class who "became" bears. Little hands became claws, wild eyes flashed and they “roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth,” so to speak. This was okay for a while, but the bears became more and more “wild.” It is at this point that many of us adults of the non-bear variety might suggest that the boys become something else, engage in something else, or simply calm down. Instead, our lovely Miss Marie declared, “Oh dear, these bears seem to need someone to take care of them! Who will feed them? Hmmm, I think they need to be brushed as well...” This call to duty was answered by two eager classmates. The bears were thrilled - not only were they being acknowledged as bears, but a whole new layer was added to their play. As it turns out, bears - when groomed and fed - become much tamer creatures. 
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