A Leader in our Midst

Yesterday I took Kyla to storytime at our local library. It has been a while with the summer schedule and holiday schedules. I decided to start it up again, knowing that this is something I can continue when little sister arrives. Kyla LOVED storytime and is not at the age where she can follow directions from the teacher and enjoys sitting and listening to a book read to her. As we drove home from the library, I had to laugh to myself about Kyla's personality. Definately a blend of her mom and dad, but more than that, she is an influencer and leader!

As we were waiting for storytime to begin, Kyla proceded to find another girl sitting next to us and they began to run in circles. Pretty soon there were three and four. I heard Kyla shout, "all fall down", and then watched as all the kids followed Kyla's lead of falling down, laughing, and then waiting for her to get up. This continued until there were a total of seven kids doing the same thing.

Storytime began and Kyla was intrigued with the teacher's songs and stories. The first story read brought out another side of Kyla. She took the time to give the girl next to her a hug. Hugging was not in the story, just something that came over her. Well, the hugging continued and Kyla then hugged all the kids in the room. Whether they were sitting on their parent's lap, or on the floor listening to the story, they all got a hug from Kyla. The interesting part of this, was that during each book that was read, someone was receiving a hug (and not always by Kyla). All kids felt the need to give the others a hug. I chuckled to myself because Kyla's gentle side looked past race or age, and influenced all those around her to once again "do what Kyla was doing"...good thing it was without manipulation!

I told Jason that what happened earlier in the day was just a glimps into what our first parent teacher conference is going to be like.

Teacher: Kyla is always so intregued by what is going on. We love her compasion for others and her concern for what others are feeling. She loves to participate and does well with what the teacher is asking her to do. However, there are a few times during the day when Kyla gets socially distracted.

Jason then looked back at me and said, "my parents were always told that I was doing great on the academic side, but was a little socially distracted at times". It will be interesting to see what this conference looks like in three years. I wonder how her compassionate side will come into play.