Showing Up

They say when tackling big things, it’s best to think about it in small phases. At first, “Just show up.”  If you Just Show Up, then it’s all downhill from there.  You have shown up, you were present, and you have filled certain minimum requirements.  Check it off! I feel that way when I tackle math problems.  “I’m showing up,” I tell my brain.  Then, I can relax and try to comprehend what I am doing just a little bit more.  Showing up means that I took the first step.  I engaged with the process.  I am ready and willing.

I have shown up for kids for forty-six years.  It is my greatest achievement – this showing up – this putting intentional time into something as important as children. I love watching children grow and develop.  I like being the one who cheers them on through the struggles.  There is nothing more enjoyable than seeing the look of satisfaction on a child’s face when they have finally accomplished a goal, whether it is jumping over a puddle,  climbing steep stairs, writing their name, or reading their first book independently.  The children showed up, and I showed up, and together we learn something new, change our situation, and grow and flourish.

This week, I had to say good-bye to a first-grade student, Linea, who is moving to Canada.  I have worked with her since kindergarten, watching her learn English, make friends, and eventually read and write.  She is trilingual with French being her first language, Spanish her second, and English her third.  She is a spunky and tenacious little girl.  Good thing – because she needed to show up with all that spunkiness in order to learn.  We both love our time together reading, writing, talking, and laughing.  As we sat down to write together this week, Linea had to write about all she’s thankful for.  Writing one sentence took her a long time, but she was determined to write five sentences as her last piece of writing for her teacher.  She kept stretching out words, writing, counting sentences, and adding a new idea over and over again.  It was her best work to date.  When I asked her to read it aloud, she gave a little grumble, then looked up at me and smiled.  She read her whole paragraph almost flawlessly and was so proud of herself.  I clapped and told her how proud I was of all the hard work she had done. 

As our session was ending, I pulled out a green and white striped bag that I had filled with some gifts for her to take to Canada: blank books, a box of markers, a box of scented erasers, two books of stickers, some picture books, a bear with kaleidoscope googles, and her own kaleidoscope goggles that she has been asking for since kindergarten.  The first time she put on the googles, she cooed, “Ah, rainbows!” Most of the gifts were things from my office that Linea had cherished when we worked together.  I hope these small things will help make her transition to a new school easier. It is difficult for me to  good-bye to Linea, but I know she will thrive wherever she goes because she has the exuberant, playful spirit, which shows up for every challenge.