August 19, 2026

In the days leading up to my birthday, I continue sharing the feedback that has helped me to grow; today’s offering is the idea that:

You deserve love. You deserve consideration.

You are deeply valued here.

Today’s feedback is about one of the earliest ways we can teach that truth: how we guide children to meet what is unfamiliar. When a name, culture, ability, appearance, or tradition is new to us, love and consideration ask us to expand our understanding, not ask another person to shrink themselves into what we already know.

And if we are asked to shrink for the comfort of those around us may we lean into the tension and allow it to strengthen our resolve to give ourselves the love and consideration we need to remain fully who we are, because the world cannot experience its perfectly blended harmony without each of us.

Dear Teacher,

Your heart is for your kiddos. Thank you for that 🦋. And when students react with defensive teasing to an unfamiliar name the best path might be to help them past the discomfort of exploring the unfamiliar. Because students can learn to pronounce Atsuko just as they learn to pronounce the words “could”, “receive”, or “walk”.

Teaching new things is a wonderful part of the learning journey—and learning to pronounce new names, finding their meanings, and exploring their origins is a part of the beautiful harmony created when different subjects and their many branches of knowledge meet, blend together, and form the very melodious composition that the world is and can become.

It is so important to guide young learners toward appreciation for this process, because encouraging them to turn away from the unfamiliar unconsciously plants seeds of supremacy. It teaches them that what is familiar to the perceived or declared majority is the acceptable standard of being, while people who have different abilities, appearances, names, cultural norms and traditions must alter themselves to be considered acceptable.

#NurturingKindred #VibingWithAtsuko

Happy-almost birthday to me.