Oh, Be Careful…

By Tara M Martin

Dec 25

This morning while drinking coffee before everyone was awake, I scrolled down the most current trending hashtag on Twitter– #TLAPGift. As I scrolled I smiled, giggled, encouraged PLN peeps, commented, and (as my little three-nager niece says) “hearted” each tweet.

I was completely captivated by the community of people Dave Burgess and his family has brought together through DBC Inc. Publishing. What a beautiful tribe of educators who are passionate about challenging the status quo. I was in complete awe of how the Burgess family blazed a trail for all of us to gather together and get pumped up about “pirate-ing up” learning experiences for children all around the world. 

But, just moments after those thoughts, I received a private comment.

It caught me off guard.

At first, I felt defensive, but then I realized something.

I realized how there have been circumstances where I, too, have had opinionated thoughts and truly believed my perception was the truth.

It caused me to reflect.

Why?

Because now I was on the backside of the assumption. I could now see what others probably wished they could have told me when I misunderstood or was narrowly focused on “my perspective” during a particular situation in the past. Granted, I try very hard to consider all perspectives on situations before acting and have actually received professional accolades for doing this well. However, I’d be foolish to think I don’t misjudge situations sometimes. Heck, I’d be lying if I said that.

As I said, this morning, I was on the receiving end of the assumption, and I wanted so badly to say something. However, decided it might be best to write in my journal instead. (Didn’t exactly plan to publish it on my blog–but hey…why not? Maybe someone else might care to read this.)

The comment read, “Educators all across the country are ignoring their family and taking pics this Christmas in hopes to win books.”

That could very well be the perception of some when considering the 2017 #TLAPGift Challenge. However, to me–it was completely inaccurate.

Why?

• Educators across the world are participating in the challenge. Not only our country. Therefore, there are many nations that don’t even celebrate Christmas. 

• What if we don’t have a family? I haven’t seen my bio-family in years. 

• Or, what if only one side of our family has any part in our lives (my husband’s) and they came for Thanksgiving. And, what if it wasn’t financially feasible for either of us to travel 1000 miles to be together for Christmas, too?

• Also, what if we aren’t ignoring our family at all? Maybe my little family of three (my son, husband, and me) are all involved in the fun? It might just be the change of pace we needed to ignore the fact that we are missing out on all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas family festivities.

• Last, what if it isn’t about winning? I have nearly every single one of the DBC books. Winning is the least of my concerns. In fact, I hope someone who has very few DBC books wins the bank! That would make my heart so very happy. Maybe it’s all about the FUN, the PLAY, the connections between titles and how they relate to everyday activities that happen during the holiday break. My son keeps saying, “Mom, I think there is a book that matches this,” as we are cooking, sledding, playing games, and having holiday fun as a family.

• I, also, love supporting the authors of these amazing books. They have poured their hearts into these pages and have shared their vulnerability to encourage the world of education. It feels good to give back and love on their EDU-awesome creations, publicly. 

And, another’s story will probably look much different from mine.

However, the fact remains…

Isn’t it interesting how one little comment can miss so much meaning?

How often have we (if you’re a human, you are included) misperceived a situation and forced our opinion as fact?

This situation reminds me of a song I sing in Sunday School with the toddlers I have the honor to teach. Ok, to be REAL–it’s organized chaos, but singing and dancing are the few things two and three-year-olds do on task. This little song has several verses, but it talks about how we need to be careful what we say, hear, see, etc.

Oh, be careful little mouth what you say…

And it repeats the chorus with all of the senses. 

But, I think it might need a new verse, and it goes a little something like this.

Oh, be careful little mind what you think…

This morning’s comment was a REAL eye-opener. Not in frustration but more as a reflection.

How often do our thoughts mislead us?

Let’s be careful not to assume what is true for us will be true for others. That’s simply one-sided thinking. There is always much to comprehend, and that is the beauty of this thing called life.

So diverse.

So multifaceted.

And, everyone has a story.

Oh, be careful…

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About the Author

I am an educator who values the individuality and uniqueness of others. Writing the blog R.E.A.L. is an outlet for me to pay it forward by sharing ideas, influences, lessons learned and exposing a little vulnerability while encouraging others to maximize their R.E.A.L. potential, as well.

Cristina Bustamante

Tara! Thank you so much for sharing! This reminded me of a conversation I had recently about really understanding things our students say. A coach in my district was talking to me about The Conscience Classroom ( a training I have not attended ) she was talking about finding the subtitles in what the students are saying.
So when a student says “ I hate math” what are they really saying, what are the subtitles…. “ this is really hard for me” “ I don’t want to feel Stupid by asking questions” “ I don’t understand why this is important to me” I’m sure this is true for adults as well.

I really appreciate the fact the you shared this, and what stuck out for me was turning to your journal. So often we want to respond without thinking things through. I am not one who journals- it has never been a natural thing for me, but I can see the importance of having one especially in situations like this!

Thank you for all you do and sharing yourself with the world!!

    Tara M Martin

    Christina, this comment means so much to me. LOVE the subtitle idea. Brilliant. Also, yes–my journal saves me…a lot! 😉 I appreciate you taking the time to share your reflections. Honored and humbled.

Maricar Bautista-Osorio

Merry Christmas to you and your family! First, I would like to thank you for all that you do. I love, love, reading your blog, and feel so lucky that it gets to my email right away. Tara, you’re an angel and I really appreciate you for sharing your excellent thinking. You’re an inspiration and wish that there are more people like you who will stop and think before speaking, People who will speak their mind together with their heart.

    Tara M Martin

    Awww…this is the sweetest comment ever, Maricar. Thank you. My heart just melted a tad when reading this. Thanks again for your continued support and for taking the time to comment on my post, today. #Honored

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