Kinda proud of myself too. My afterschool program ranges from about 60-70 students. My assistant is on leave for 2 weeks for his twins, so I am doing the part of the program that he usually does. After attendance and snack we transition into the gym, play a game and then kids can make choices of what they want to do that day. The challenge is getting the attention and managing 60 kids at once. My staff is progressing very well but are not able to do that yet. I am taking charge of that part of the program and transition time.

Today they were so energetic, chatty and a big challenge. My personality is quieter than many, I can be loud when needed. I decided that we needed a moment of calming down, so I led a mindful moment of 3 to 5 minutes with 60 kids. It worked, got the whole room quiet and focused.

My ex-boss told me once that he had not seen any moments of mindfulness from me all year, and had not seen any evidence of my mediation training. I knew better intellectually but it shook me pretty badly still. It was just mean,