Now for those of you who really know me, this is my FAVORITE time of year! I also realize though, for many it is a hard time of year. The thing is, so many people will be strong, brave, and courageous and you would never know that they have sadness and struggle in their life. It is often those who seem the strongest who are holding it together on a prayer. So as we head into a season that can be crazy and overbooked let’s all remember really what we are stressed about then put things into perspective.
I recently had Baylee’s parent-teacher conferences with her teachers. I love her school district and her teachers! Now, she is a great student but was having some issues with one teacher. This particular teacher just was lacking a bit of patience, not the nicest comments to the kids, and a few other things that I will save for another day. Conferences came and you bet I addressed it BUT I did it with love, kindness, respect, and grace. You see, we don’t have to actually be a “bear” to be Mama Bear. My mom always says mama bears are for warm hugs not to claw. I acknowledged her hard work, her commitment to teaching and gave her grace while sharing the feelings of my child. I am her mom so yes, I do have to advocate for her BUT I also don’t have to tear people down in the process. We are all human, have feelings, and life that no one knows about. Now, I was not the only parent who said something as the teacher shared with me, but she did thank me for doing it with kindness. She sadly shared others hadn’t done the same. We had a wonderful conversation and well, we just never know someone’s story. Fast forward a few weeks and there has been a big difference in the classroom and that’s how we give people grace. Space and grace to be aware, accept and make change while doing so with love and kindness.
So here is my point, this season let’s give more grace. Let’s be understanding of human error, delays, long lines, and the list goes on…. Feel free to insert all the things that may push those perfect buttons for ya;). . Let’s reconsider a bit more positivity when a complaint goes to comes out of our mouth. Let’s model for our kids what it looks like to advocate for ourselves but to have empathy for others and understanding.
This holiday season we all need a bit more love, smiles, and of course lots of Hot Coca:).