“Stay Calm and Carry on, …and be affirmative and spread light”

The needle didn’t hurt at all yesterday. Dorothy had sent me a message to drink, drink, drink the night before so I did.

I still cried.

I didn’t spend enough time in my car crying because as I entered the school, two other teachers were walking in and gave me the loving kindness and compassion look.

You know when you just about pull it together and then someone looks at you with love like a mom?

Yup.

Lost it in the vestibule and cried in the corner.

I am usually so good about crying in private, and was embarrassed, but was shown such love and compassion. I work with great humans.

Then?

I took a deep breathe, got calm, and carried on.

I had a great discussion during my post observation about using the affirmative when speaking. Instead of saying the “not” or “no”, speak the affirmative.

“We do not sit on our knees,” instead say, “We sit in our bottoms”.

We can all use that.

Instead of “I am not afraid”, use “I am brave”.

Instead of “There will be no cancer in the scan”, say “It will be clear and show all healthy organs and bones”.

See?

During lunch we had a lockout. Apparently someone decided to make a threat against the entire county. Such a crazy world we live in these days. It’s different from a lockdown in that we are all safe inside, the threat is outside, so we just close blinds, cover windows, and keep calm and carry on.

The kids weren’t in the room, and I knew as soon as they came back they would notice the paper covering the door.

I didn’t choose black, I chose purple.

The color of a King.

I wrote love notes using affirmative language on it, and when they came back in, they squealed with joy… and even came up with some more positive and affirmative things for me to write on it.

It reminded me of the movie, “Life is Beautiful”. When the dad did everything he could to make the crazy world and concentration camp into a game, to shield the son from fear and panic, but instead keep the sacred time of childhood safe.

The kids were sad when I took the paper down, and I’ll have to make a game of moving these love notes around the room more often.

When I got home, my own children asked me about it. Parents, you have a choice. You can either fill the children with fear, or you can simply fill them with affirmative.

“You are safe in school. Your teacher loves you. Always follow the rules, be a good listener, and be kind to everyone.”

Filling them with the very scary scenarios that may happen but probably won’t would do nothing but create anxious children, and Lord knows they’ve got enough on their plates already.

I showed my kids Mr Rogers. My older ones at first thought he was creepy. That’s what Our society today has taught the children.

I told them he was kind. I told them how he always said out loud when he was feeding his fish, because he knew a blind child used to cry when listening to his show because she was worried he would forget. How he went to the bedside of a child who had a brain tumor removed and she told him the fears she never even told her parents. How he had children with disabilities

on his show and looked at them with loving kindness. How he had an African American man on the show and not only did he put his feet into the same kiddie pool as the man’s feet, but he also dried off his feet. We are all the same.

Mr Rogers wasn’t creepy.

He was a man who made you feel like

You were special and loved, no matter what.

A man who treated children like friends, and everyone was loved.

Those are the people who I want around me.

It’s easy to go on social media and complain about how things go.

But it’s also easy to take a deep breath and think how to make things better.

It’s a choice.

Which person will you be today?

An affirmative, positive, keep calm, carry on, and shine the light for others?

My friend Paula posted a video of the angry Long Island Sound yesterday as the sun was setting. The waves were pounding this one rock that stood tall in the water, as the sky looked like it was on fire and burning.

But the rock?

Didn’t move.

It stood tall.

Today, I am the rock who stands tall and still, and sees the beauty all around when I look up.

May we all be like the rock, and like Mr Rogers, and like that father from the movie who taught his child that even in the darkest of times, life is beautiful.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

Xoxo

Keri