On the occasion of Valentine's day, a day to remember the joys of Love, i thought i might share some lovely moments from my life as of late. There are times in this work when from behind the child you are working with, some deeper wisdom rears its coy little head, something that speaks from a place beyond yet unbeknownst to the child. Here are the examples that i can remember, plus a little story i heard.

As i was putting a little boy down for his nap just the other day we were reading his story in which the protagonist is featured throughout the book in the illustrations, sometimes hidden on the page but always somewhere to be found. This particular book appears a very San Francisco children's book, touching on themes of universality in diversity, love and understanding for all and the importance of open-mindedness. Throughout the story he would consistently search for the character and let me known when he had found him, "There he is, Derek. Oh look he's over there!" Well this went on for some time until i finally commented on his dedication to the task, at which point he said (or perhaps responded,) "God is everywhere," and before i could recover from the shock of hearing this he continued, "he's a shadow." And that was that. No follow up. No explanation. I tried a bit to ask but he had already moved on.

In another moment we were outside ogling a snail as it slunk through the garden. A circle of little heads surrounded the creature as it made its slow and slimy way along the dirt. To make things interesting i tried suggesting possible destinations for the snail. "Do you think he's going back home? Maybe he's going out to the grocery store?" At which point one little girl with a particular amount of character turned to me and said with no lack of conviction, "Noooooo!"
"Ok," i replied, "then tell me where he's going."
With a confident stroke of her finger she pointed to the very spot where the snail was and said, "Right here."

Today i was in the middle of the post-lunch chaos, a time when the children in some order are trying to find time to wash their hands and use one of the two bathrooms between the time they finish their meal and nap time. An older child was seated, awaiting his turn in the bathroom and for some reason smacked me on the hand as i went by. Not in the mood for tomfoolery, i bent down and began to lay into him a bit for his behavior. It occurred to me at one point that perhaps i should let up and had said enough, though i continued to say my piece until i was satisfied. I was stressed and needed vindication. Immediately after i was finished he casually looked down at my bracelet, the bracelet that was used as proof of payment at a spiritual retreat i attended in the fall which i still wear, and he asked, "What does your bracelet say?"
'Fill you heart with Love and express it in everything you do,' my bracelet reads.
"That's a very good question," i replied.

And the last and final story was told by Carol, my supervisor, second hand from some friends of hers. Apparently the friends had a four-year-old child and had just brought a newborn into the world. From the time the four-year old met her younger sibling she was insistent about wanting to be alone with it. She was so insistent, in fact, that it worried the parents enough to make them wary of leaving her alone with the baby. Undaunted, the child persisted until finally the parents agreed to let the child have a few moments in the room with the baby. Before this could happen however, the parents put the baby monitor right next to the crib, turned it up to full-blast and stood outside with ears pressed against the door. Shortly thereafter, through the speaker of the monitor they heard the following,
"I want you to tell me about God again - I'm forgetting."

It gives me chills even writing it.

Happy Valentines Day. Spread the Love.