We Can Do Hard Things

Each year the CGS Staff embraces a theme for the duration of the school year. This year’s theme is We Can Do Hard Things and it was largely inspired by a book that I read during lockdown. While reading Glennon Doyle’s latest memoir entitled “Untamed”, I came across a quote that resonated with me at the time. It was “I see your fear, and it’s big. I also see your courage, and it’s bigger. We can do hard things.” This quote really spoke to me and continues to speak to me each and every day. Now the CGS Staff is focusing on that same quote as they embark on this new and highly unusual school year. It dawned on me, as I started to write a first week of school message to you, that as parents you may also find some support in this quote.

Our lives have been put on hold for half a year. Everything we knew about our lives and our jobs has been turned upside down. COVID-19, and all the change that it has demanded, unfortunately, did not come with a manual that read “in case of a pandemic, this is how you proceed as a parent, a partner, an employee, or a citizen.” We have all had to fumble along and just do the best we can. Collectively, without question, we have looked fear in the face and let our courage win. Over the past few challenging months, every time I completed a task, and every time I witnessed those around me complete a difficult task, I couldn’t help but be reminded that “we can do hard things.” We can, and we did, and we will!

This past summer was a hard one for all of us at CGS, as we prepared the school for reopening and all the change that needed to happen to keep our community safe and healthy. We started the year out exhausted, but it only took about five minutes on the first day to realize that the hard things we did can now be celebrated. Seeing our young students filled with such joy to be back to school, with some semblance of normalcy, was all we needed to boost our spirits and reenergize so we could embrace the exciting year ahead.

As we enter our 35th year of CGS, we will continue to remind ourselves and all of you that we can indeed do hard things. Even with all of the challenges ahead, I’m confident there will also be lots of joy and lots of fun and lots of learning. We must give the year ahead a chance to be awesome. I think we will all be surprised at how great it will actually be!

I look forward to sharing it with all of you. Let’s all be reminded that the three most important school supplies to bring into this school year will be Patience, Flexibility, and Kindness.

My best,

Marie Bates
Principal & Co-Founder
Children’s Garden School