Hi!

Hi! My name is Savonia, and I welcome you to my blog. I have been wanting to start a blog for awhile and have tried several times, but the previous formats just didn't feel right. After meeting Teacher Tom and reading my friend's amazing blog, I'm inspired to try this again! So about me; I am a mama to three kiddos, older kiddos, like one barely adult kiddo and two teenage kiddos. Below are pictures from 5 years ago during one of our many, many road trips. The memories and feelings behind these pictures brings me back to the many joys of our family adventures..... Except when my kids see that I posted these, they'll yell, "Mommmm! Why'd you post those?"

I was a stay at home mama until our youngest entered elementary school. That is when I became a preschool teacher. Having three kiddos, three years of age and under, mainly shaped who I am today. I found out that raising and caring for children was my passion and ultimately my contribution to our society. I inherently knew that children need to explore and investigate their world and it was my job to let them! Provide experiences, and follow their lead to the n-th degree. I too was an explorer, an investigator, and a wonder-er, right along beside them. I didn't have all the answers, but together we would find out. I knew deep down that this was the right thing to do.

While raising our young kiddos, I went back to school to finish my degree in Human Development and Early Childhood Education. While I was pregnant with...?... one of our kids, my husband would drive me to my night classes and pick me up in the late, late evening. (Did I mention that he was fabulous?) After awhile I found that Cal State had an online degree program, so my late nights continued, but at least I was able to stay at home and in my PJs. Before kiddos, I was a broker for Charles Schwab and then Merrill Lynch, and that where I met my hubby of 21 years this month!

Working with young children became my passion. I would always have kids over playdates, and it was then that I knew that working with children is what I was born to do. My hubby said, "If you go back to work, you go back to work to make money." But being the fabulous husband that he is, he knew that this was the right thing for our family, and me. So I went back to work, not to make money, but to give all the other kiddos in my preschool classes the same opportunities to explore, investigate, share ideas, collaborate, problem-solve and ultimately know that they are creative, confident, curious, intelligent and whole.

So for the last eight years, I have been working mostly with preschool children ages 3-4. Most people think that it's a 'fun' job to work with such 'cute' kiddos. They are very fun and extremely cute but being an early childhood educator job is hard! And these kids are way more than just cute. They are a force. They demand to be heard and have a right to be heard. They demand fairness and will argue to the point of fairness until there is resolve. They love fiercely and argue equally. They problem-solve meaningful dilemmas better than most adults. They hug you and draw pictures of you a million times a day. Their smiles light up the world. And these kiddos are my co-workers.

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will. ~George Bernard Shaw

Working on a new post...stay tuned!

Thanks for reading! SG