"Miss Cara, will you tie my shoes??"

This is Devin, one of my pre-K kiddos. Every day, without fail, she comes into the Forge with both shoes untied and falling off her feet. She's usually not the only one. Many of my students have learned to tie their shoes this year, but some are still working on it, and others are just too preoccupied with other things to take the time to  tie their shoes.

Yesterday I realized how much time I spend tying shoes for my 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old kiddos. For some strange reason, it is one of my favorite things to do. The kids come pouring into the classroom after a long day at school, and many of their shoes are untied. Many of the kids are still so small that their feet don't touch the floor when they sit in their chair, so their little feet are swinging wildly under their chair. Every day, I watch any number of their shoes fall off their feet under the table because they are untied. One by one, I either go to their seat or call them over to me so I can tie their shoes. Some of them are in the process of learning to tie them on their own, so we make a deal and each tie one. I've discovered that this small interaction at the beginning of the day is such a blessing to me because I get some precious one-on-one time with a kid; I am down on their level, asking how their day was. Sometimes this process takes longer than others. Sometimes there are knots in the shoestrings, other times the strings need to be restrung. But I have really come to appreciate these little moments of loving my kids in such a simple and practical way.




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