justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

“You’re Not The Boss of Me!”

My budding career as a substitute teacher has included a few "challenges" from the students from the over 300 with whom I've worked. To my surprise, none was more direct than what a four-year old said to me when I was working in a pre-K class. I had asked Esther (not her real name) to please stop throwing the Legos in the room. Her response was, "You're not the boss of me!"

After my initial shock, I responded as follows: "You're right, I'm not the boss of you. Who do you think is the boss of you?" To which she responded, "My father is the boss of me."

I replied, "You are the boss of you, and I don’t like the choices you’ve made." Almost immediately, Esther said, “I’m sorry, and I won’t say that again.”

Not sure if it will stick, but it felt much better than getting into just whom is or is not one’s boss when you’re four years old…never, ever intending to lessen the role of her father as her “boss”.

And Esther did put the Legos away without another word spoken!