New (School) Year's Resolution

After recently teaching a kindergarten class for the first time, I was powerfully reminded of an important lesson. A little blond boy had been extremely high maintenance throughout the 40 minutes I'd spent in his room. Instead of sitting and listening, he stood up several times and then sprawled flat on the floor sideways, drawing impatient reminders from his classmates. Since I knew nothing about this child except what I was seeing before me, the teacher, who was privy to his background information, discreetly beckoned him to a comfy stool at the back of the group. While the child did stay on the stool, he lay on his stomach and spun around frequently. Since he was behind the other children and not bothering them, I was able to ignore this behavior. About halfway through the class, the time came for me to give out puppets, which I always do before the story we read. Choosing 7 names from the class roll, I made sure to give this little fellow a turn. Because he was having such a hard time attending, I didn't want him to see me as a mean old witch and forevermore dread the thought of guidance class. In other words, I was attempting to balance the negatives with something fun for him to do. As I read the story, his teacher tiptoed over and took the puppet away from the boy because he was slinging it around. I heard her tell him softly that he could have it back when he was able to keep it still, and within a minute or so, he earned the puppet back. During our song and dance time, the wiggly child stood and sang and danced appropriately, although his puppet had some wild and crazy moves! As I was packing up to leave, the little boy came up and gave me a big hug around the waist, which I appreciated, as I wanted our first lesson to end on a happy note. Because this class occurred at the very end of the day, I was able to talk with the child's teacher soon afterwards. Her story was heartbreaking. This little fair-skinned boy had been hit in the head by a relative while he was very young, and the perpetrator is in jail because of the abuse. Upon hearing this tragic tale, my eyes instantly filled with tears, and of course I fell in love with the child immediately. The lesson I was beneficially reminded of is that children will usually behave when they can. If there's a stand-out misbehavior occurring repeatedly, there's a reason for it. I need to have more empathy and less judgment with everyone with whom I come in contact, not just children. Not too long ago, I read a quote that fits this story well: "There isn't a person you wouldn't love if you could read their story." My resolution is to take this lesson to heart and be more aware of and interested in people's motives, which I hope will make me a better counselor and friend!