There are days when all you can do is hold firm and not give in ... not give in to the flailing child who has learned that hitting equals not having to meet the expectation applied to him, and someone who does not have the expressive language to tell me he is sad, mad or just tired. So yeah there are days when you simply are the rock in the storm, you get hammered but slowly, oh so slowly the rock steady determination remains. Despite the imagery of that kind of statement or its truth ... I am not a patient woman. A fast learner and able to acess a situation almost immediately and deal with it ... yes. Patiently wait for a child to exhaust herself on me... no. Today was a test of Wills, plain and simple. Yeah yeah, I'm the adult and its not supposed to get to there, but in reality ... human nature drives it there. My job is to give people the tools to succeed and realize their potentional, that means teaching them the how & why as well. I don't expect the children to obey unthinkingly, I expect them to ask and understand why certain behaviors are needful and why others are not. The real bottom line is that no matter what the state of ones birth is or who has raised you, I believe in positive potential - EVERYone makes a difference. I tell myself this sometimes when my own stress or exhaustion threatens to overwhelm me and it brings me back on track and keeps me standing when its needed most.

keep smilin' and bear in mind ...