Teaching Tiny Humans is Exhausting

 

Are you a parent? Teacher? Nanny? Right this very second, if you are any of those, you can totally relate to that attention grabbing, heart racing title can’t you? I did not understand until I was pregnant with my first son how exhausting it could be just to grow a tiny human. And then he was born. He was active, smart, very verbal, strong willed and did not like to sleep. 20 years later, nothing has changed. What else did I not know prior to having children? That keeping them alive, safe and then actually teaching them would be more exhausting.

 

There are several reasons why these little tiny people can exhaust us emotionally, physically and mentally. They can push you to the absolute edge of insanity with the endless questions, the mood swings and the sheer amount of laundry they generate. There will be entire years where you spend more time managing their social calendar and schedule and it will be busier than your social calendar. In the times where you are not physically taking care of them or some aspect of their life, planning for parties, organizing sports practices, making snacks for class or gifts for teachers, you might find that you are mentally trying to think through all of the tasks. You might wake up in the middle of the night wondering if you signed the permission slip, or remembered to pick up the right snacks for lunch. Whether you are a mom or a nanny, your children can become all-consuming and very tiring. Whether you are struggling through the tempestuous toddler years, scurrying through the elementary school years or wading through the roller coaster of the teenage years, let me remind you of why it is all worth it.

 

You are shaping little tiny humans. You are helping them form good, healthy and safe attachments. You are helping them learn kindness and how to treat others. You are teaching them how to think critically and question the world around them. You are teaching them to observe big beautiful things and to look for tiny beautiful things. You are shaping character. You are teaching work ethic. You are demonstrating and modeling grace under pressure, tenacity in the face of difficulty, patience in times of frustration. You are teaching fashion sense and exploring creativity. You are helping identify strengths and weaknesses, interests and possible hobbies. You are teaching manners and respect for others, self-control and how to use words to express their thoughts and feelings. You are broadening their minds with new experiences.

What you are doing is so much more than just letters and numbers and math equations. You have been entrusted with the task of taking a sweet baby human with absolutely no ability of their own and helping them to become adults that will one day change their corner of the world.

 

There may be days when you fall into bed exhausted. There may be moments when you forget that the minutia of every day eventually turns into a fully involved adult. On those days, come back and read this little note. What you are doing is changing the world for one little set of tiny humans. What an incredible gift. Now, go fall into bed with the satisfaction and contentment that comes from knowing that you have the most incredible career. You are raising little tiny humans.