Change…Excitement…and Feelings!

There are so many big feelings in the air around FJECC this week! It happens every year, and every year it takes us by surprise even though we know it’s coming. The “it” is the seemingly sudden shift in behavior, the regression, the “senioritis,” if you will. Why is my child waking up in the middle of the night again? Why is my child having potty accidents? Why is my child hitting all of their friends? Why is my child crying at drop-off – in June?!?

Because it’s June! We are in a transition period and change is hard – even when it is change we are looking forward to. I just had this conversation with my daughter; she called one evening last week in tears. She is moving back to New York, driving across the country, and can’t wait to be back. But, the packing, the long-distance apartment hunting, the roommate drama, the change – is so hard. When I offered this very thought her response was, “but I’m so excited to be back in New York!” (sob sob sob). Yes, well, we can have all the feelings all at once. This is the stuff of life. We are all excited for summer, we are excited about adventures to come, and we are sad at the things we lose in order to have the things we want. How we make our way through these transition times reflects the core of our personalities. Some people experience all the stress, worry, and angst in anticipation of change. Some sail through change with excitement, wonder, and curiosity – and then fall apart afterward. Some do a little of both. The one thing I know for sure is that we all have big feelings around change and that we all will experience a lot of changes in our lifetimes. And there are things we can to do to buffer the impact of change.

Our older classes have been talking about the end of the year since children are visiting their next schools. Younger classes began a visual countdown on Monday. We remind children that people feel big feelings when they know something is changing and invite them to talk about what they are excited or worried about. We explain that their new school starts after a lot of summer days...and, most importantly, we tell them that FJECC will always be a place to come visit and that we can't wait to see them when they do!

For the adults who are trying to grasp the end of the year details, I'll remind you that Friday, June 10th, we will have Shabbat Sing all together in the garden at 9:30. Please join us as this is our chance to say a collective goodbye to some very important members of our staff who are leaving. 

Following Shabbat Sing, the Blue and Green Room children and families will then shift to Levi Auditorium to celebrate students from those two classrooms who are moving on in their educational journeys. 

FJECC will close at 1:00 on June 10. And summer will officially begin.

Shabbat Shalom, 
Amy