Wawanesa Wee Care Inc. |
the journey continues....
As we approached the end of our year with Brigitte, we wondered if we did everything right. Did we embrace everything fully, change what we needed to change, implement everything we could have? The best realization for us was that this was OUR journey. Had any of the players been different, we wouldn’t have had the outcomes we did. There was no need to compare our program to others who had already been on a journey, or who inspired us to start our own journey, because this was all about US! Our team, our families and our values.
Every meeting with Brigitte left us blissfully exhausted. Our brains, and our hearts were stretched beyond measure, and we were always eager to implement EVERYTHING she talked about…but were reminded time and again…baby steps. Most of our overwhelm came from thinking we had to do it all! We had to support each other with reminders of ‘one thing at a time’ and ‘no, we don’t have to do that’ “what could we do differently’, and ‘YES, let’s try it!’
As we wrapped up our final meeting with Brigitte, we thought, how did we have a whole year and we still have so much to learn/try/explore? Did we even get anywhere?
Remember, way back in the beginning we already thought we were an amazing place for children and an amazing place to work?
This is where the giant ‘A-HA’ came to us! As we were trudging down this path of pedagogy, we barely recognized that we were changing, evolving, learning constantly. Once we got here, to the one year mark, it took us stopping on the path, taking a break from dodging the rocks, branches, puddles, and other obstacles along the way, to look up! Even though it felt like we had barely moved along the path, once we stopped, and looked back, all the way to the beginning of the path, did we really see how far we had come! An amazing reminder to stop, look around at the wonder that is right around us, and reflect on where we have come from and all we encountered along the way!
This also gave us permission to never stop! Never stop wanting better. Never stop challenging and pushing ourselves and each other! Never stop asking questions, wondering or embracing change!
We know this path will keep going for us. Sometimes the obstacles will be difficult to overcome. Sometimes it will seem like we are going backwards. And we now know that is ok, because we know this journey is specific to us, and it will take on a different look with every child, family, and staff member that joins or leaves our program.
To be continued……
Every meeting with Brigitte left us blissfully exhausted. Our brains, and our hearts were stretched beyond measure, and we were always eager to implement EVERYTHING she talked about…but were reminded time and again…baby steps. Most of our overwhelm came from thinking we had to do it all! We had to support each other with reminders of ‘one thing at a time’ and ‘no, we don’t have to do that’ “what could we do differently’, and ‘YES, let’s try it!’
As we wrapped up our final meeting with Brigitte, we thought, how did we have a whole year and we still have so much to learn/try/explore? Did we even get anywhere?
Remember, way back in the beginning we already thought we were an amazing place for children and an amazing place to work?
This is where the giant ‘A-HA’ came to us! As we were trudging down this path of pedagogy, we barely recognized that we were changing, evolving, learning constantly. Once we got here, to the one year mark, it took us stopping on the path, taking a break from dodging the rocks, branches, puddles, and other obstacles along the way, to look up! Even though it felt like we had barely moved along the path, once we stopped, and looked back, all the way to the beginning of the path, did we really see how far we had come! An amazing reminder to stop, look around at the wonder that is right around us, and reflect on where we have come from and all we encountered along the way!
This also gave us permission to never stop! Never stop wanting better. Never stop challenging and pushing ourselves and each other! Never stop asking questions, wondering or embracing change!
We know this path will keep going for us. Sometimes the obstacles will be difficult to overcome. Sometimes it will seem like we are going backwards. And we now know that is ok, because we know this journey is specific to us, and it will take on a different look with every child, family, and staff member that joins or leaves our program.
To be continued……