She said, “OFF. OFF. OFF.” She tugged at my coat sleeve. Toddler Claire was telling me to take my coat off when I stepped inside her house for a moment because she wanted me to stay! Oh, the heart strings were singing! I hadn’t planned to stay but I wanted her to know I understood what she was saying, so I took my coat off and stayed just a few minutes, holding her. It’s so important for children to know we are listening and understand. Children do need to know they are heard. This experience was a heart connecting time. There can’t be too many of those. And they all keep building quality relationships, feelings of value and self-worth, and do nothing to encourage bullying, violence or self-destruction. Simple steps. Quality interaction. It is all doable, one step at a time.
