Mama Bear Amy?

No, I haven't been holding out on you...I'm not a mom. But for awhile I have struggled with caretaker tendencies. I think, being female, part of it is natural. We were created to be mothers, to be nurturers, etc. But part of it was a mess of trying to discover my own identity and realizing my worth does not rest in attempting to rescue myself by rescuing others. So after some counseling and living in another country, I think what has healed me or taught me best was being a tutor in the constructivist learning environment.
Sitting back, letting others make their mistakes, and then seeing how much more quickly they learned to be self-sufficient and take charge was a real life lesson. (my job has taught me so much)
But there are times when I still want to jump in. We conduct critical thinking discussions with our higher level readers. Last week, we were fortunate enough to have two high levels at the same time and so we let them have the discussion. (they read a passage of text and answer questions discuss, and must come to agreement on their answers)
Well, my student is a really lovely lady and also a bit on the soft-spoken and polite side. My co-worker's student is a real firecracker who hates the program and told us straight off there was no way they would ever come to any agreement. But we sat back and let them discuss. And though there were times I wanted to let Darline (rude student) know she was being just that, I didn't. And Amalia, as might be predicted, fended quite well for herself. So in the end, I was just there to make sure no punches were thrown. And that's the way it should be. It is possible to learn and change in life. It is possible to let God be the only caretaker and well, maybe one day if I'm a mama, I can do it a bit then as well. :-)