Today, I had a bus meeting in Asquith. In the afternoon, I went and performed my part of our church's spring clean up. I washed and sorted toys, cleaned windows, and wiped the boogers off the walls of the nursery.
Tomorrow is Dalmeny bus meeting. I have already volunteered my services leading a sing song when the meeting is over. I am also hosting a dinner party tomorrow evening. I better Vim the sinks.
Principal’s Message
I love to sing. Whenever a teacher needs me to cover their
class, I take my guitar into the class and we sing mostly silly songs. If I had a nickel for every time I sang
“Grampa’s Whiskers”, “The Cat Came Back”, or “Going on a Lion Hunt” I would be
a very wealthy man. I’ve even been hired
to sing and play guitar at funerals for pay.
At the last funeral I performed, the funeral director kept on addressing
me using the name of the deceased probably because of the quality of my guitar
talent. I was not offended. I don’t take myself seriously as a singer or
a musician.
I have witnessed people with
incredible guitar talent and have heard people who possess incredible singing
talent. My abilities are meagre at best, but I know how to wind up hundreds of
children with a sing song then send them back to their classrooms where the
teachers try to settle them down enough to do seat work. I am not one of the four tenors, yet I still
sing. I am not Jose Feliciano, but I
still play the guitar. I am a Raffe
wannabe. There is comfort and peace of
mind in accepting who I am.
In our culture, there is generous
attention given to self-esteem and self-esteem is used interchangeably with
self respect. To esteem something is to
evaluate or give worth. If your self
esteem is high, you feel great, but if it is low, you feel awful. Self esteem goes up and down depending on
your circumstances. When you have a good
day, your self esteem soars, and when you experience a failure, your self
esteem plummets. Sometimes you win and
sometimes you lose.
Self respect is entirely different. If you respect something, you accept it. A person with self respect likes himself or
herself. Self respect does not depend on
success and is not the result of comparing oneself with others. Self esteem, on the other hand depends on
success and comparing oneself to others.
With self respect, we simply like ourselves because of who we are or we
don’t like ourselves because of the things we cannot do. Having self esteem is important, but it seems
that having self respect offers a greater opportunity for peace of mind.
As Canadians, we are so modest
that we consider loving yourself is narcissistic and vain, but self respect is
a very healthy type of self love.
Teaching children to respect and accept who they are is a noble,
necessary ambition. Obviously, we want
our children to achieve their inner best, but we also want them to make the
most of the hand they are dealt as far as appearance, aptitude, and
talent.
As I write this message, I am reminded of a presentation delivered by
one of our parents who spoke to our students during Education Week
activities. He is a karate instructor
who achieved international recognition.
His message was to respect your self and never give up. Many children give up because they are told
they are not good enough or they compare themselves to others.
As children encounter setbacks, confront peer pressure, experience
failure, and try to figure out who they really are, we have to work extra hard
convincing them they are beautiful just the way they are. Furthermore, we need to remind them their
bodies are a precious gift that should be cared for with good hygiene, healthy
diet, and exercise. At every age, we need
to guide them in discovering who they are and accepting themselves.
Our virtue of the month at
Prairie View School is “self respect” if you hadn’t already guessed. We
want to convince our children they are not junk – they are precious. They need to respect their bodies and their
minds, carefully monitor what they put into their minds and their bodies, and make
choices that will lead to self respect.
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