The gift of Gratitude

I am thinking about gratitude not only because it is Thanksgiving time but we just had our staff performance reviews at the Center. What an amazing group of people I am lucky enough to work with! It would be great if they could be paid as much as they are valued but the system is not set up that way. The younger the child, the deeper the impact of a teachers' work and the lower the pay scale. We do offer wages higher than typical child care centers but only as much as the organization can bear. Without outside funding sources and with licensing restrictions as well as quality control standards that dictate how many children we can serve, it is not the kind of work that will make us wealthy in a materialistic sense. That brings me back to gratitude, a spiritual gift. When we develop gratitude for all that is - including both what we like and don't like or want, we are less dependent on material things. We build an inner resource that enriches our lives and shields us. At the Rose Garden Early Childhood Center, we are grateful for the children and their families, for the building and its contents, for the LifeWays model and its wisdom. We have always appreciated the nuns next door, but until they were relocated for the construction project, we did not realize how much. Next summer, when they return, their warm and benevolent presence will be so welcomed, as will the quiet sensory environment we are accustomed to. Please pause to thank your child's teachers who work with joy, love and gratitude daily. They model these principles for the children while they tend to their needs and the room. That means they wipe noses, clean toilets, sweep floors, tell stories, sing songs all the while encouraging children's best behavior. They deserve appreciation and recognition in lieu of material wealth and one day perhaps, in addition to it.