Is it fair to say that we have all (happy) ugly cried at least once these past few days? We know we have!
How incredible it feels to be back in school! To think that it’s been close to five months since we’ve cared for children, welcomed you all in the morning and laughed and explored together–since we felt complete–is just overwhelming.
It is the best medicine–food for the soul–to be back at Pine Village with our doors open and welcoming children back. We could not have done it without the support of this entire team; the teachers, directors and support staff behind the scenes have worked as one team to make this happen. It’s truly incredible and we are so very grateful.
We have connected on Zoom with all of the directors who have all reported having amazing first days. The children are superstars! We wish we had recorded all of the stories the Directors have shared with us, it brought us all to tears. But here are a few of the anecdotes we can share with you:
“All of the preschoolers are wearing their masks all day, no complaints, sliding them down under their chins when they eat, and sliding them back up when they are finished. They already know what to do!”
“It’s better and calmer than our best day ever!”
“We were all so stressed out, and now it feels like we just slid back into what we always knew.”
“Even the new children are happy to be here!”
For this WE THANK YOU! You have been put through the ringer over these past few months; it’s been well documented in memes, blogs and Facebook posts that your job as parents has been pushed to the brink. We can now share with you all that YOU DID IT!! You did it all right! Your children are, from what we can see so far…just fine! We have been and will be focused on the children’s emotional well-being, but from what we see so far, they are adjusted, calm, unfazed, and honestly just happy to be back.
There will be tough moments and there will likely be tough decision in our future, but getting over this hurdle together with love, determination and a common vision has made us even stronger.
Thank you for being a part of this community. We look forward to working alongside you as we make our way through this new journey together. We still have much to learn and more growing to experience, but we are certain that with collaboration, respect, patience and perseverance we will continue to thrive.