Years ago I happened upon a video where parents shared insights about growing up with Sesame Street. I bet a whole lot of research went into The development of it's episodes as well as characters. There was a time when I had so reverence for the program I figured the only people who were allowed to be any part of it must be super human. In college when considering career options I paused for a moment to consider one day being good enough to audition for a part on that show, but it was only a moment. I would never be able to achieve that sort of prowess. Putting my great respect and admiration aside another comment drew my attention and it seemed commonly expressed by then parents. The comment was that most awe wasfor Big bird because he was so big, and it was something they all aspired to.
I remembered those comments my first days working as a headstart assistant. Though, height never once crossed my mind as a child I thought I bet it is on their minds. So, I decided to play the part of an equal who was already grown up. And I stood up to show them all how tall I was and opened up a conversation about what we all had in common (having been born).
My mother often expressed a love of a children's show called "Wonder Pets" inthe show the tiny individuals worked together getting great things accomplished through team work. If it was significant to my motherthan even if I did not understand how it WAS significant. I wanted each and every child to feel empowered by community, or as wonder pets sang "team work".
Then, today, I stumbled on a TED talk where a woman spoke about how essential it is for every child to feel like they have a champion on their side or as I would like to say "team".
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