There are days when......

Sometimes I do really fun things on the spur of the moment, just so I can exclude certain kids from the activity. When I first started teaching, I hated to see a cute little kindergarten kid cry. It almost broke my heart, and it felt SO validating to give them a little cuddle, and dry their tears. It was like I was being SO nurturing.

That didn't last long.

I learned in a hurry that it was counter productive. I think it is a sign of our times, but there is this whole movement in society to avoid responsibility. Heck, I read this article in the paper a couple of days ago, where some "scientist" was suggesting that people's sense of right and wrong is genetic. You're good because you have "good" genes. Bad or evil because you have "bad" ones. That's nice, we aren't responsible for our actions. So I'm all about consequences. I found myself giving them the lecture the other day (because one of my kids was trying to get out of timeout by saying he was sorry) about running out in the street and getting hit by a car. Sure you can be sorry all day but you are still going to be hurt. Being sorry you burned yourself with matches is nice, but you still have the burn, etc, etc. Their eyes glaze over during this lecture, but I feel good.

So now if they cry, that's good. Oh sure, if they are hurt, I still like to be validated by being nurturing. but if they are crying because they are in trouble because of something they did, that's a different story. I'd rather have them cry in my room any day than send them to the office because they did something wrong, and have them come back with candy......