5 Perfect Minutes In a Kindergarten Classroom, Or Was It Heaven?
The kindergarten principal was taking me on a tour of her pleasant domain. She & I had been discussing my facilitating a workshop for her teachers, so I had asked for a tour & to meet some of the kids & workers. As we entered one roomful of children, the principal was suddenly called away briefly & left me for a few minutes. About 5 or 6 children, a mix of boys & girls, upon seeing me, came swarming around with smiles & an obvious desire to interact. To be more accessible to them, I immediately sat down on the carpet with them in a tight circle.
The boy on my right, having sat down, latched onto my upper right arm with both his hands & clutched it tightly while leaning into me throughout the 5 minutes that I spent talking & laughing with them about nothing in particular. What most amazed me was the complete trust the little guy grasping my arm showed by cuddling up to me, a total stranger. This apparently meant he, & probably the others, fully trusted the principal, & if she had trusted me with them, then I must be as trustworthy as well.
Their delight at my friendliness & willingness to be with them for those few minutes was palpable with their smiles bursting from their charming expressive faces & was especially felt very tangibly from the little boy’s hands pressing…
