Dear Anita:

That is really interesting so thank you for this new point of view… I feel like I need to say that I remember she did the best she “thought” she could to make me have a nice time in kindergarten, she always waited outside… and a lot of days she let me stay at home instead of going… but sometimes I just had to go because it was normal for any kid to go to kindergarten and it just felt like the right thing to do. As an adult now, I think avoiding kindergarten completely would’ve created even a major shock between me and the outside world, especially when the first day of elementary school would’ve come. Therefore I can’t see her as an enemy that forced me to cry in pain and without listening to my cry, she was listening, but I guess she was also trying to do the right thing, or as you said, what other people might have told her the right thing was…

With that being said, I absolutely am ready to also invest energy to consider a point of view of a mother that didn’t do the right thing… and of a mother that could’ve done better.

What is the first step of an emotional learning journey?