“We got you.”

I let my kiddos know that I was stressed yesterday, that life and school were piling up, and that if I didn’t seem quite myself, then they knew it was me and not them.

It was me. And that’s one of the difficult parts of our job, when we have to face the days when our focus is not on them or us, it’s on ourselves.

It’s hard to turn off life some days. There’s not a convenient switch. And though we manage to compartmentalize it most days. Some days, it will not be tucked away. Yesterday was one of those days for me.

And so, I put it out in front of our work to let the kids know that I would not be myself. Once upon a classroom, I hid it, not wanting the kids to know, not thinking it was okay for them to know. But that, I now see, never helped–them or me. So, now, I let them know when these days show up. And I ask them to let me–us–know when they are experiencing such days, too. And they do. Often, they share such days during Smiles and Frowns, and the empathy lives and breathes among us as we face the days when life will have its way.

Yesterday life came looking for me, and I could not avoid him. So, I let my kids know. And they, in their own way, looked out for me. “We got you, Sy.” And they did.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.