“Choose joy.”

We spent lots of time at today’s Behavior Collaboration meeting discussing behavior management strategies, sharing ideas about “what works” — we’re planning a full day conference for October 2018 and it’s going to be pure awesome, BTW! — and every layer of conversation, every tip and trick, and every success story had one thing in common:

“Choose joy.”

• Choosing joy means celebrating the messy play and noisy voices and running feet, assuming positive intent and providing positive guidance.
• Choosing joy means embracing the tearful separations and the not-sharing and the not-so-nice hands, understanding that young children need time to practice these social skills.
• Choosing joy means prioritizing play and having fun.
• Choosing joy means remembering that nurturing hearts is just as important as shaping minds.

Give yourself permission to choose joy, even in the most challenging moments. The children in your care deserve it — and so do you.