Those three little words out of the mouth of a child can carry so much power. I think back to the very first time that I ever heard those words. I had only been teaching for a couple of years when I came up against my biggest challenge. Her name was Jaime and she was simply amazing. 
Jaime was strong, confident, opinionated, very very verbal, friendly, popular, funny, sweet and 2 years old.
It was nap time in the preschool and all of the children were climbing into bed. It was at that moment that little Miss Jaime darted into the adjoining room. I followed her in and let her know it was time for nap and then asked her to please come with me. At that moment it was like watching a volcano get ready to erupt. Jaime stomped her little foot, put her cute little hands on her hips, began to turn very red and then screamed at the top of her lungs “I HATE YOU”. I was still a new teacher and had never heard that from a child, I was at a loss for a moment. How could this sweet little girl who loved to sit in my lap and snuggle possibly hate me? For a brief moment my feelings were a bit hurt and then I found that I needed to take a deep breath. I realized of course that Jaime didn’t hate me, in all actuality she simply was expressing her needs and wants in the only way that she was able at that time.
Jaime and I sat down on the floor together and took very deep breaths. She was still very angry and it showed by her red face but within moments she plopped down in my lap and started twirling my hair. We talked about why she didn’t want to take a nap and by the time she was done telling me everything she wanted to say, she ended with telling ME that it was time for her nap!
That event with Jaime has stayed in my mind all of these many years. I learned so much from her that day and I credit that moment in helping me to be a better teacher and mom. When our kids are at their most difficult, when they are being defiant and overly emotional, it is in those moments that our children need the most love and patience from us. Our children need to learn that expressing their feelings is safe and part of our job is to help them learn to express their feelings in a healthy way. For Jaime, on that day she learned that her words had power and that if she could take a deep breath (or catch a bubble as we do with our little friends) and use calm words we can solve almost anything.
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