Kindness is like snow – it beautifies everything it covers.
– Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American writer, poet

In the Exchange Essentials article collection, Caring for Yourself and Your Team, Rachel Robertson and Helen Zarba remind administrators that “while we early childhood professionals are a naturally hardy group of people, we regularly draw on our resilience and strength. If we don’t replenish these, we’ll burn out. To do this, we must continually nurture our resilience…

Research on resilience points to the following categories as key:

• positive relationships;
• achievement;
• control;
• meaning;
• engagement.”

Nurturing supportive and caring relationships between administrators and teachers, between fellow team members, between teachers and families and between teachers and children is a crucial way to strengthen the resilience of the people who help children develop their own resilience. Of all the “to do’s” in an early care and education program, focusing on relationships belongs at the top of the list. Wise administrators realize that everyone benefits, including themselves, when the whole team makes a commitment to working together in mutually supportive ways.

An article on the American Psychological Association website reports that a survey of parents with children under eighteen revealed that 49% “say they feel completely stressed out no matter what they do, 64% say they wish they had someone to help them manage their stress, and 62% say no one understands how stressed out they are.” Early care and education professionals can be a source of affirmation for families with young children, and the families in turn can provide positive acknowledgement for their children’s caregivers. Developing this mutual admiration society can help everyone build their resilience. When administrators nurture these relationships through simple practices like encouraging families and educators to write notes of appreciation to each other, everyone wins.