This picture of my youngest granddaughter struck me as a great example of what childcare center and preschool directors do every week! When we first got the cups out, she had never done this balancing activity before…so she automatically started stacking them one on top of another. Of course, this meant that they just collapsed together, and she wasn’t getting anywhere with the promised tower I had spoken of! And isn’t that the way that new directors sometimes start…willing to dive into the job but not knowing just exactly how to make it work? A little mentoring is a good thing and, in a perfect world, that is available.
I explained the idea to her again with a more detailed explanation of “stacking” and showed her with three cups what I meant. She got it immediately (she IS brilliant!) and she was off to the races! However, her first efforts were wide and not tall. She just kept adding cups to the sides with two layers and was soon frustrated that again she didn’t have that TOWER I had talked about AND she was out of cups! In our work, we often spread ourselves too wide, too thin and don’t have the energy or the resources for depth. Yet we know that to accomplish great things, we have to have depth—or maybe a “tower” of effort, resources or reasons for successful things to happen.
Obviously, you can tell from the picture that she caught on to the concept quickly (remember: brilliant!!) and she had a great time with her tower over and over again. She discovered that rolling a ball at it—or encouraging her almost two-year brother to run at it—would result in a wonderful mess and noise of falling plastic! And she could start all over again. Sometimes we can control the balls that roll toward our towers and sometimes they come out of nowhere…and all we have worked for tumbles down…often not to the joy of Little Miss and her red Solo cups. But we pick up the pieces and start again, maybe even trying to figure out a more “balanced” way to build our tower the second time.
If you look carefully at the picture, you can see that Little Miss has part of a sandwich in her mouth…and don’t we all too often eat while we are working? At our desks while handling a computer task, in our cars on the way to make a bank deposit, grabbing a quick bite while all the babies are sleeping and we are covering a potty break? Nourishment is a good thing, of course, but so is quiet and a few moments of relaxation.
The last detail in the picture that I will point out to you is what is on the top of her cup tower…it is a gel pen and a TV remote. As I continue with this analogy, you can guess that it brings to mind paperwork and technology! Both things that require our time, energy, brainpower and sometimes our last nerve! They are things that we have to have but that are often hard to deal with, on top of everything else that makes up our tower. Staying patient while we put them in place and keeping them balanced as best we can leads to more successful outcomes.
Finally, take a look at this picture:
As you can tell by her clothing, it is a different day. But look carefully and you will see other differences as well. The tower is taller than she is and she has even added some architectural design to the top! There were several days and lots of trial and error between the two pictures. Just as we have to try and try again with some things to have the success that we want…with time, energy, problem-solving and effort.
The most important thing about this picture, though, is not the wonderfully accomplished tower…it is that look of pride and joy on her face! (It brings tears to my eyes to remember her excitement with her creation!) I wish for each of you the determination, the support from others, the resources you need, the creative energy to fuel your ideas and the final push for joy in your work. May your towers rise strong and tall as you serve families and bless children every day!
