In everything that we do, we should have a purpose. If not, we tend to lose focus because we never had a clear vision of why we began the task in the first place.
When I first began teaching, I knew that I wanted to open up the eyes of young children to see the world as an exciting place full of possibilities and adventure. When I became an Education Director, I knew that I wanted to teach teachers to look at the world through the eyes of young children. As a mother, I know that my purpose is to raise my sons to be leaders and innovative, independent thinkers.
And now as I embark on my blogging journey, I know that my purpose is to bridge a gap that sadly exists to this very day.
For 13 years of my teaching career I worked in a location where I taught children who came from moderate to highly affluent homes. Children who would visit their country houses on the weekends, and had accumulated more frequent flyer mileage by the age of 4 than I may ever accumulate in my lifetime. While there is nothing at all wrong with that, this privileged lifestyle was also reflected in the education that children in this area receive.
I taught in this type of environment for years and I loved every minute of it. However, at the end of each day, I commuted back home to a specific area in the Bronx where, although it was 40 minutes away from my place of work, the education system was light years away from what I knew to be the most beneficial for the children who are (cliche or not), our future.
Day after day, I had to ask myself WHY? Why are the young children in my neighborhood allowed to walk through the streets late at nigh unaccompanied by adults? Why do the parents think its okay to call the children names using profanity? At first I had convinced myself that the families in my neighborhood just didn’t want better for themselves and that’s why the children are not doing better. But after a closer look at myself, which is what we should all do every now and then, I realized that my first thought was not entirely true. It’s deeper than that and it definitely doesn’t apply to all people in this area.
For the most part ALL people want to do better than what they are doing. They just don’t possess any keys to unlock the doors to doing better AND they don’t even know that they can pick the lock to open doors. Either way, the lack is what causes people to become content or complacent with doing absolutely nothing. Parents become complacent so children do nothing. Teachers become frustrated so the students suffer, funding becomes low so people become discouraged. These may be all excuses but even the weakest excuse can have the strongest impact. And while we are sitting around playing the blame game, our children are growing up to be fractions of what they can be.
With all of these things realized, I felt as if I could no longer be content with going to work in my upscale neighborhood, all the while judging what I didn’t understand at first. The late, famous entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “if you don’t like how things are, change it! Your’e not a tree”. As an educator, I don’t like the inequality that is ever present in our school system and as a parent I don’t like that other parents who want the best for their children have to jump so many hurdles just to scrape the bottom of the barrel. And as a parent who is an educator, I don’t like that people don’t realize that all of it starts at home. I don’t like it, any of it, and because I am not tree, but a person with a voice, I would not be living up to my potential if I didn’t attempt to turn this system on its head and share what I know. And that’s where this blog comes in.
Through my experiences, I have picked up a few tricks and practices that have become instrumental in shaping my views and even managing my household as it relates to children. My sons have had exposure to things that will contribute to the purposeful mission that my husband and I have for their lives. And I have obtained a wealth of knowledge that has opened my mind to all the possibilities for our children. And what good is wealth, if you can’t share it? The main purpose of this site is to begin a dialogue with parents and educators as we navigate through the most important jobs ever. On “My Sweet Pea and Me”, guest can expect to find:
- Developmentally appropriate activities for parents and caregivers to do with young children.
- My thoughts on many child-related issues and trends that exist today in society.
- A glance into my life as a parent and how I handle certain situation.
- Tips and advice for families that inspire togetherness, and communication.
- And last, but certainly not least, my process and progress as I work to make “My Sweet Pea and Me” go from a blog to an actual preschool/ Mommy and Me program based in the Bronx.
I am so excited to share with you.
Talk to you soon!
Share with me: What kinds of things would you like to read about on a blog about family, children, and entrepreneurship?
