THE FORCES THAT RUN through plants and baby lambs in spring run through all, though it’s often most apparent in children. At school, exuberant behavior abounds. Romantic feelings pop up. Sometimes a preschooler will even surprise everyone by urinating in the yard.
Our children, so different than they were at the beginning of the year, often appear like caterpillars about to become butterflies. Preschool and elementary students are so comfortable in their classrooms and play yards, and yet they can seem like they are bursting for something new.
It’s important to for us to savor this joy as children give full expression to their new selves. Focusing on the next step, the next class, the new school, often creates anxiety and even acting out. Soon enough transitions will come.
Traditionally the energy of spring has been channeled into cleaning, gardening, and making our environments fresher and more beautiful. This is also a time when families work together to offer needed services to others. We want to teach children to use all that surplus energy to help others and constructively create a new world.