My first daughter at 6 years old, was just thrilled when her teacher appointed her the official "eraser clapper." It was her job to take the dirty chalk board erasers outside each day and clap them together to knock the chalk dust off them.
This may seem insignificant to us, but to her, it was like she had an important job to do much like her teacher. Each day she would go directly to the chalk board, collect all the erasers and promptly take them outside for a good cleaning. She felt great about her new found job.
It is funny, but as we grow older, we tend to define ourselves by the things we do and the recognition we get for our actions. But as we learn in our adult lives, the one thing you can always depend upon is change.
Just a week later, she came home from school very disheartened. She told me that the teacher had said that she could no longer clean the erasers for her. She felt as though she had been fired from her job.
When I asked her why, she told me that the teacher wanted Katie (a classmate) to clean them for her, and that she knew that Katie could not clean them as well as she could.
I just told her, that I was sure she was right, and she was.
