A few of us were at lunch when a child from Bonnie’s joined us. Her mother was in a session with another worker. She had all of our attention.

One of us played with her using the ‘Bear Cards’, a set of emotion cards; she was very good at identifying the different emotions. She proceeded to pick up a card of an angry bear and a sad bear and said, “this is mummy and daddy.” Immediately, she put the cards down and started to play a balloon game she was playing with previously. At that moment, I witnessed a 4-year-old child trying to regulate her own emotions. I thought to myself, what else have I missed at Bonnie’s when I am hurrying between meeting, appointments and deadlines?

Not wanting to miss more of these moments, I told myself I would slow down and make time to see more.

While going to our Oz Harvest collection, I was able to connect with many of the women in our service and hear about how they were getting on. One of the clients informed me she was waiting to hear back from a potential employer. She really wanted the job and she was all nerves while waiting for the phone call. Another woman told me about being anxious re. moving out on her own but also excited about finally having a place to call her own. The children were all so excited to see each other and Bonnie’s crew. The Friday Oz Harvest collection becomes a meeting point for the women and children to see familiar faces and their friends.

Last week, we hosted the Children After School Group. The children harvested veggies from our garden and cooked up a storm. I saw the excitement in their little faces while pulling out a Bok Choy or cutting the freshly picked lettuce. They wanted to participate, and it was pure joy. I enjoyed hearing their stories and learning about how much they like seeing Ranjani and Marryanne (our Child and Youth workers). The evening was chilly but we didn’t feel it thanks to all the laughter and children running in and out collecting vegetables.

I would have missed it all if I hadn’t slowed down and noticed.

Written by An