You might be familiar with the concept of leaving heartfelt affirmations inside a child’s lunchbox. A simple and affectionate gesture by parents to remind their kids of their love while they’re at school. But what if there was a way to craft a message that a child could subtly encounter throughout their entire school day? Not just during lunchtime?
One ingenious mother devised a remarkably straightforward method to achieve this. And when her child’s teacher stumbled upon her ingenious idea, she felt compelled to spread the word. In 2019, a dedicated teacher, Amanda Cox took to Facebook to recount an incident when she found herself running short on pencils. “Today I was running low on pencils so I asked all of my kids to pull out any of my pencils that they had in their desks.” She explained.
One of Cox’s students asked her an extraordinary question
In Amanda Cox’s class, one of her students had pencils that his mother had provided in his desk. And he politely inquired with his teacher if it would be permissible for him to retain them. Cox wrote, “I had one student ask me if he could keep the pencils that his mom gave him for school. Of course, I said yes.”
Despite Amanda Cox granting permission for the student to keep the pencils his mother had given him, the student ultimately chose to share some of those pencils with classmates. Cox continued, “He then said, ‘well, I guess I’ll give you a few so my classmates can have them too.’ I thought nothing of it and took the pencils that he handed me.”
Later, as Amanda Cox was sharpening those pencils, she had an epiphany and understood the student’s initial desire to hold onto them
She explained, “When I was sharpening them, I noticed writing on a few of them. I then realized that my student’s mother took the time to write affirmations on his pencils.” Amanda Cox was so intrigued by what she discovered on the pencils that she became eager to examine the rest of the pencils the student’s mother had provided. “I asked him if he would mind showing me the rest of them. What I read melted my heart.” She added.
In case you can’t read the mother’s writing, the messages are:
“You are so talented, this will be a great year, you are creative, you are phenomenal, never give up, you can do this.” Were some of the messages. “you are very knowledgeable, you are a math whiz, you are intelligent, proud of you every day, I love you!” She continued. “You have a brilliant mind, you are wonderful, you are a problem solver, follow your dreams, you are perfect” were some more of the messages on the pencils. “I love you!, I am proud of you, you will change the world, you are amazing, you are the best, you are important” She wrote.
Giving your children positive affirmations about themselves can help contribute to their growth mindset and help them form who they believe they can be. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/ixmUnbhpbq
— Action for Children (@actnforchildren) May 27, 2020
The teacher was absolutely amazed by the mother’s ingenious idea of inscribing affirmations on the pencils. She was deeply touched by the student’s generosity in sharing those pencils with his classmates. Ensuring that they too could have a positive message on their pencils. “This probably took his mom a few minutes to do but lit up his whole day at school. He wasn’t embarrassed that his mom wrote on his pencils. Thanks to his mom, he was reminded of his self-worth and wanted to share the same feeling with his classmates.” She wrote.
Cox closed off with some affirmations of her own
Concluding her post, Cox underscored the critical importance of parents and teachers consistently reinforcing good behavior. Leaving a message to their children that they are important, talented, loved, knowledgeable, and possess countless other remarkable qualities.
This is what we need to instill in every child!! Are you speaking positive, life-giving affirmations over the children in your life. Heck, yourself? Some of us need to reject the lies we were told about who we couldn’t be and what we could never do! #truth https://t.co/rQYwXNKEnB
— Taifa Smith Butler (@TaifaButler) October 10, 2019
“Remember that you may be the only one telling and reminding them these things and EVERY kid needs to know their value. This is why I teach.” She closed off with. Numerous individuals responded to Cox’s post. Expressing their admiration for the idea and revealing their intentions to implement it in their own lives.