My four children are Anna, 23 years old, David, 20, Noah, 17, and Sadie, who just turned 16. I see their childhood going past me quickly and I feel older each time my husband and I watch them reach another milestone. I’m no longer the mommy of little children. I’m no longer busy helping with homework, or organizing snacks, or even tucking in at bedtime. I sometimes long for those hectic days and having my identity so intwined with theirs. I wish everything would just slow down.

This perspective, along with a heavy dose of mindfulness, helps me daily in my own kindergarten classroom. Yes, my children and I have lived through temper tantrums, and talking back, and picky eaters, and missing homework. These experiences give me a perspective that is beneficial in teaching young children. But, it’s so much more than getting through tricky stages.

Daily, I remind myself to slow down. When I’m feeling anxious about a plan, or even that Monday morning sure came quickly this week, I tell myself to go slow. I remind myself that my students are watching and beginning their day with me by modeling my own feelings and behaviors. When I am slow, and in the moment, I am ready to hear them and appreciate them. I am comfortable and more grounded to handle the events that will certainly come up in a kindergarten day. I can feel any anxiety I might be having leave my body. Sometimes, as I’m walking through my class, I can hear myself reminding me, “Go slow. You’re missing something good.” Recently, I received an evening text from a parent of one of my students. She wrote to tell me that after she explained what patience meant to her son, he informed her that his teacher was the “goodest” at doing that. A reminder to me that I am setting the tone.

This awareness is important in my classroom but the lesson continues outside our kindergarten walls. How I yearn (really!) to remind my kindergarten parents to go slow. Tantrums and tears and long bedtime rituals really do end. Your patience and awareness will set the tone for your children in handling future issues and even their own anxiety. Appreciate and learn from these stages now. Listen to what your children are telling you about how they feel. Take a moment to be right where you are. Slow down. You won’t get this time back. You will be helping your children learn from your example. They’ll feel just great being “the goodest.”