from the director | january 2017

“No.” 

It’s a small and powerful word. Between the ages of 2 and 3, “no” seems to be a child’s favorite word. Have you experienced this in your home? Is it frustrating to you?

Rest assured, parents. It is perfectly normal and HEALTHY for young children to say “no.” It represents a crucial stage in your child’s language and emotional development. It’s a sign of their budding autonomy, which is a good thing.  

At the same time, the “no” stage can bring even the world’s most patient parent to his/her knees. Do you know how to navigate your child’s “no” when it seems stuck on repeat? Do you feel tempted to just give in and give up sometimes? Check our Preschool POV for some tips. 

For grownups, like us, saying “no” is trending as well. 

In my humble opinion, I think most of us walk around overwhelmed by the multitude of choices, information, opportunities, and to-dos we face on a daily basis. Because of this constant overwhelm, we feel compelled to streamline, subtract, edit, turn down, tune out, say “no” to keep our wits about us.  I totally get this.  As we continue growing up into the person God has created us to be, learning what to say “yes” or “no” to is an important skill.  

As we begin 2017 together, I am praying you will say “yes” to a few things at Weekday School. If you have a 2 or 3 Day student, I hope you will say “yes” to re-enrolling at Weekday School for the 2017-2018 school year.  I encourage you to save your spot before the January 25th deadline. We have healthy waiting lists and anticipate full classes for the upcoming year.

I hope you will say “yes” to being a part of our Fun Fair/Silent Auction teams or our Advisory Board for next year. This is a “yes” for parents who desire a way to get more involved  and connected with other parents around fun school events. We understand that parents are busy. Our goal is to make volunteering at WDS manageable and enjoyable.  Volunteer forms will come home in school bags and digitally in the next week or so.

Whether or not your answer to these invitation is “yes” or “no,” please know how much we care about you and your child...and how much we value the school days we have together in this New Year.

“Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In Him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.”

II Corinthians 1:20-22, The Message

Happy New Year!