I Am Here For You

09/09/2021

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.
Julie Andrews, English film and stage actress

When Carol Garboden Murray talks about the concept of care in her book, Illuminating Care: The Pedagogy of Care in Early Childhood Communities, she is referring to the daily tasks (diapering, dressing, eating together…) that are often mistakenly devalued. She writes:

“Imagine the difference between the early childhood teacher who treats care as drudgery – and the one who treats care as education and honors care as an intellectual exchange.”

In an Exchange Essentials article collection, “Aspects of Infant and Toddler Care,” Elsa Chahin writes about the importance of how care is offered to young children, whose “well-being will depend, in great part, on the way he is touched by the adults. Through the use of our hands we bathe, feed, and dress these precious souls…If they are rough, impersonal, and rushed during moments of care…he may look forward to finishing the task by exhibiting resistance…When hands are loving, mindful and attentive…the adult’s attention is fully given to the child she is caring for…

The message needs to be, ‘I am here for you, nothing else matters in this moment but you, I see you, I hear you, I am here.’”

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