Choose Joy

Teri Ann Cox
Executive Director of The Children’s Center

Dear Center Families,

Looking back on other December newsletters I have done - the focus has been around either:

• Staying healthy (because of the “yucky” part of the holidays that includes colds and the flu -- which then leads me to share our Center illness and exclusion policy), or

• Believing in the magic of the season (where I share information about our Polar Express reading tradition -- with the ringing bell being a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas).
  

While both themes are relevant, they have a much different spin and meaning this year. Keeping your child home because they are sick, goes far beyond the usual public health guidelines. For many, 2020 has been an extremely difficult year given the pandemic, so finding the “spirit of Christmas” is hard. On top of that, I feel like there is a collective breath we are all holding, wondering if further shutdowns will be needed to get us through this second significant wave of community spread of the coronavirus in NH.

While looking for my own inspiration, I came across the following (unattributable) quote:

When you
choose
Joy
You Feel Good
And when you feel good,
You do good
And when you do good,
it reminds others
Of what Joy feels like
And it just
might inspire
them to do
the same.

So, this December, I will be working on choosing joy and doing good. How ever you celebrate the season, I hope you will join me in doing the same. And may you and those you love, have an extra measure of joy, comfort, and hope in the month ahead.

Warmly,
Teri Ann