My daughter-in-law sent me this article entitled “When Love Trumps Anger” by Gwen Smith, and after reading it I felt this was a good time to share just a small part of it with my personal thoughts on the matter. Below are the beginning lines that really made me think.
“I was working in my office, minding my own business, when my oldest son threw a paper airplane at the back of my head. Not one to normally welcome an air attack, I gave him the stern “mom voice,” and asked him to stop messing around and give me some private time so I could get some work done. He agreed, and turned to leave. Surprisingly, he then jumped around and threw it at me again! Well, let me tell you, my grace-o-meter was reading pretty low at this point! I barked like an angry dog. “What in the world do you think you are doing? I just told you that I needed to be left alone so I can get some work done! Stop it!”
“There’s a message on the plane,” he tenderly replied. “Read it, mom!”
As I unfolded the airplane made of orange construction paper, I saw this message written in pink marker: “I Love You.”
“Nice!” I said to myself. “Loser-mom strikes again.” I had scolded my son and reacted out of frustration with an unkind tone. All the while, my son was trying to communicate love to me.”
My personal thoughts:
We will be beginning a new school year in just a few short weeks, and I am reminded that there are many students who will be reaching out to communicate their love for their teacher. For some, the method in which they attempt to communicate that student/teacher connection may not always be what some consider to be the most socially acceptable. It may, however, be a valiant attempt to show love.
How will we as teachers react? Will we react in frustration with an unkind tone, or will we seek the deeper, underlying reason for the actions of our students?
We may have one chance to communicate love for our students. May we reach them all with words of kindness and acts of compassion.
~~Thank you, Shelly, for causing me to stop and think. You do that often.~~
As always you have given this a great perspective for teachers. As a mother, it really made me consider the many times i have stopped the boys short of telling me something and I may have missed them telling me they love me! Love ya!
Thank you for sharing….I did stop and think. I will do my best to listen and not miss the very special moments!!!