Welcome

I apparently started a blog and didn't remember, nor does it appear that I ever posted anything so here I am, inspired by other blogs I have been reading (mainly Montessori but also some on the journey of parenting as I am). My purpose is to share about my life as well as at school.

To start I have been lucky enough to be married to a wonderful guy for a little over 10 years now and we are together the very proud parents of two wonderfully empathetic full of joy girls. Boo is 8 and a half and Belle is 5 and a half. Rounding out the family are our dog, two cats and several fish, though at present I am not sure how many are still in the tank.

I have been a part of Montessori education since 1994 when I began working at an infant-toddler community in St. Louis shortly after I decided that going to college in Minnesota wasn't working out for me (I am not meant to live in -30 degree weather I have discovered). At that time it was supposed to be only a summer job, I was planning on going away to school again in the fall and, while I knew I wanted to work with children, toddlers were not the age group I was going for. But fate apparently had other plans for my life and I had the privilege to work with an amazing woman who not only became my reason for becoming a Montessori educator but also by best friend and my daughters Godmother.

I took my Assistant to Infancy training in 1999 in Chicago and returned to St. Louis where I spent the next four years working with infants from six weeks to about fifteen months. While working in the infant class I became pregnant with Boo and suddenly Montessori took on a whole new meaning. I quickly learned that while everything I had read and been taught seemed so easy to put into practice, once I had a baby of my own, the world became less black and white because it wasn't. I moved into a toddler class in 2003 and that is where I have remained to this day save for four months in 2005 when Belle joined our family.

Over the last few months I have begun to go through a personal transformation of sorts, a "re-invention" if you will. I am trying to change the way I interact not only with the children in my class but my own beautiful young ladies at home. Just as toddlers are discovering the world for the very first time and through their eyes everything is bright and exciting, I am learning to try to see things from their perspective and I am loving what I am re-discovering this year. So that is what has inspired me to blog, to share the wonders I am seeing, to hear how others are moving through the world and to share the beauty that is Montessori, for it is truly beautiful!

B