Opportunity
by Lisa M. Henderson, B.S. Child Development

What is an opportunity? Is it a job promotion? Is it a lucky lottery ticket? Is it a chance to be on television? Opportunity is all these things, to an adult. But what is opportunity to a young child?

A child is likely to look a bit confused if asked how opportunity is defined, and rightly so. To a young child, life is an opportunity, though they don't realize it. Everything a child sees, smells, touches, tastes, hears, and experiences is an opportunity. This is both good and bad, and it lays an enormous responsibility on the adults around each child.

As a home daycare provider, I strive to fill my environment with positive educational opportunities. Even more important, though, is my own behavior and reaction to what I encounter each day. Children carefully watch to see how the adults around them behave. They then internalize this behavior into their own.

Consider the young girl who sounds just like mom when playing with a doll. She may even spank the doll or tell the doll what a "bad girl" she is being. Or consider the young boy who turns his blocks into guns to "kill the bad guys" just like his dad does (who is hopefully a police officer). These examples are highly stereotyped and gender-biased, but most providers have witnessed children in their care behaving in exactly this way. How you, as a provider, react to this is an opportunity for the child to learn good social behaviors. You have great influence on each young child in your care.

As a provider, I must be careful to answer the phone cheerfully, so a child learns that everyone is accepted here. I must be careful to welcome each child with a smile and hug, so the children learn that I can love them all. I must be careful to put my own things away and clean up my kitchen when I'm finished in there, so a child can learn responsibility. I must always wash my own hands with soap, to teach a child that everyone should be clean. I must answer my door only after asking "who is it?" so a child can learn self-protection. I must be able to say "I am angry at what you did!" to show a child that it's good to express feelings. I must be able to say "I love you! You are special!" to show the children that loving feels good. I must be able to share my books, my pencils, and my home unconditionally, to teach a child unselfishness.

Everything I say and do is an opportunity. It's an opportunity for a child to learn and grow in a positive way. Come to think of it, it's the same thing for me. As we work to model appropriate behavior for the young children in our care, we come to internalize these behaviors in ourselves, even if we seldom practiced the behaviors before.

The next time you get angry, imagine how you appear to a child who looks to you for guidance every day. How do you act when you are on the phone with a telemarketer? When you're dealing with a difficult parent? When you've spilled your third bottle of paint? When the baby just spit up on your new shoes? These frustrating situations are momentary and will soon pass, but how you deal with them will be imprinted forever on a young child's mind.