I work with children of different personalities – dominant, strong-willed, gentle, hyperactive, reserved, unresponsive… the list could go on and on.

 

I want to share with you a personal story of a boy who came to my baby music class. When K enrolled for the class, he was older than the rest of the 2 year olds. He was close to 4 years old.

 

The parent enrolled K to my class because someone recommended that my teaching could help the boy.

 

Well, I finally found out what the ‘help’ was centred on – K was unresponsive in all manners possible. He refused to take anything offered to him – not even the colorful stickers which I once considered to be the ‘break-the-ice’ tool. He was reluctant to stand on his feet nor do any actions as instructed. He was content to have his mom do everything in his class.

The mom did mentioned that in the comfort zone at home, he was happily drawing music notes.

I took that as feedback that K is interested in music.

 

However, the mom was concerned because he refused to do anything in the music class. When the mom seeked my advice whether to continue on with the 2^nd term of the class, I suggested that she allowed K time to trust the people that are in his class – the teachers, the parents and the children. Letting him stop would have given him no chance for him to experience any possible breakthroughs.

 

To be honest, I wasn’t sure whether my advice would work for the boy – but I was sure of one thing that drove me to say what I did to his mom. That one thing was this – Love always wins, and I know that the environment in his music class is filled with love from everyone.

So, the mom trusted me and we did our best for him.

 

One day, my teacher Ms Winnie and I were introducing the cello to the class. K was his usual self, watching with no emotions nor enthusiasm. Winnie and I have great chemistry as teachers, and we introduced the cello and the bow like how comedians would, and K… Oh… My… Goodness…

The entire class was laughing hysterically at our antics, and so did K! He was laughing so loudly and flipping himself backwards, unable to contain his laughter. It was such a joy to see him in that state!

 

Winnie and I had such a fun time teaching and I could see everyone in the classroom were having a good laugh at our expense. K’s mom was tearing so much that I said “Wow! You laughed until you teared!”

 

The mom mumbled something and I couldn’t hear what she said. The class continued, but I noticed few minutes later, that K’s MOM WAS STILL CRYING.

 

She finally managed to contain her tears and spoke loudly, “I’ve never seen him react like that in my life” and burst into crying.

 

The boy is oblivious to his mom’s heartfelt emotions, but the impact of that mom’s words hit every one of us – the parents who have been together in the journey with Winnie and I. To see K burst into life was such a joy and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a witness to such unconditional love!

 

This is why I do what I do – to serve others, be able to experience breakthroughs and see beautiful relationships created between the parent and child.