With the arrival of the “wonderful” COVID-19 and the restrictions, we found ourselves in a situation where kindergartens were closed again, but I still had to work. So, what do I do with my child? I sent her to her grandparents. Everything was fine until, after a week, she got bored and wanted to come home. So… I had no choice but to take her with me to work. I thought it would be a nightmare—that she would be jealous of the other children I work with, that she wouldn’t have patience, etc. But this was the situation, so I had to figure out how to make it work. I explained everything to her and… off we went to work.

I was very surprised to realize that she was extremely understanding, barely jealous, and even willing to help. Children get along much better with each other, so I took full advantage of that. My daughter participated in all the activities I did with the children, explained to them what they had to do, and helped them whenever needed. The children were very happy to have a new friend, and she was happy to help her mom.

For me, it wasn’t that easy—I had to take care of her needs as well, make sure she ate properly, learned new things, and rested when she needed to. But having the chance to spend more time with my child was wonderful. I realized I have an amazing child—understanding, helpful, patient when needed, and willing to “share” me (even if sometimes she didn’t want to).

Another surprise was the reaction of the parents I work with. I want to thank them, because they were very understanding. They saw that my child’s presence was beneficial for their children as well, and they even asked me to bring her again, because they noticed their little ones forming beautiful friendships with her.

I truly enjoyed this experience, and now I don’t know how I initially thought it would be difficult, exhausting, and unpleasant.

After this experience, I came to the conclusion that children are so wonderful that, many times, we should be the ones thanking them for how beautifully they treat us and how much they love us—even if sometimes, because of our busy lives, we don’t behave as we should with them.

Lavinia Chirvase