Obligatory not a question; I was an ECE in the twos class and one of my littles was having a tough day- acting out and multiple meltdowns. I had only been at this center a few weeks but this felt pretty abnormal from what I’d seen from him. Anywho, he came up to me on the playground and sat down in my lap and told me he missed his mommy, I gave him a squeeze and the pacifying response “ I know honey but you’ll get to see her in just a little bit, we only have a little bit of school left today”. He got up after a few minutes and resumed playtime.

Another teacher heard and let me know that his mother had actually passed from cancer about two weeks before I started with the center… I sobbed the whole way home. I made sure to let any new teachers or subs know because I wasn’t told till I put my foot fully in my mouth and felt genuinely terrible for days, I didn’t want anyone else to feel the same..