I was so moved by this little moment this month. Funny that even during these pandemic times, I still need reminders to be thankful for good health and general sanity. The energy you surround yourself with is so vital, and I am happy to be in the same place as these tiny humans when we exchange energies. It reminded me of my favourite teaching anecdote. It is a story I tell every person who would listen to me talk about teaching and kids.
It was the second school holiday where I was teaching at Saturday Kids in Singapore. I was a freelance instructor then, and during that point in my life, I was very good at one thing- saying yes to every exciting opportunity that came my way. Unfortunately, I bit off more than I could chew (this is also me quite literally now lol), which led to a terrible lack of sleep. On one of the days, I borrowed my parent's car because I had a full day of going back and forth between appointments unrelated to each other. I didn't even make it more than 10 meters before I crashed into a fire hydrant. There was barely any speed, and I meant to brake but gently stepped on the accelerator instead. A ridiculous mistake, but clearly an indicator of how unfit I was to drive. I ended up taking a cab, allowed myself to sob on the ride to class and told myself I needed to get it together by the time I exited the cab.
My class that day was a preschool class. By now you should know that is my favourite. I had 3 very energetic boys, one of whom told me that his favourite organ was the stomach because he loves to eat (relatable). Despite the time in the cab to compose myself, I still felt terrible. When the boys arrived, electric with energy, as usual, I decided I needed a bit more time still. I told them I was excited to start the class, but I had a terrible morning, got into an accident (am not hurt) and now need to ask for 5 minutes of silence from them while we listened to some calming music. 5 minutes isn't a long time at all but 5 minutes of quiet was all I dare ask of preschoolers. So I put on some music from Moomin, projected a picture of Moominvalley on the wall and waited for them to erupt into conversation. But they didn't. They respected my need for space and kept quiet for 5 full minutes. Again, I wanted to cry, this time for very different reasons.
This is your reminder to always be honest and open with others, especially with kids, and allow them the space to honour your needs. They are a lot more sensitive to your energies than you realise.
Thank you for tuning in this month! No matter how you are feeling right now, I hope you are physically healthy 🌞
This month's play-list
My pal at Studio Playfool invited me to be on Takram’s podcast and we talked about how and why we play!
Printing money! A great visual scale.
How bowling balls are made O:
Reading this post made me tear :’) i got into a v similar accident while driving previously but the hydrant was the butt of another car. I sobbed so much after! Just so traumatic then.