Dear Parents of Toddlers,

Dear Parents of Toddlers,

I know something about your child that you don’t know. When my kids were in preschool, I didn’t know this either. But now that I’m a preschool teacher, I see this happen all the time. So I’m going to tell you.

Your children LOVE you.

Like, actually, LOVE you.

They think about you all day. You’re their favorite person. They want to make you happy.

I am telling you, I see it firsthand.

Whatever art project we're doing in class, the first thing your child says is, “I'm making this for my Mommy.”

I remember doing pick up for my children when they were in preschool and the amount of art they would give me. Of course I loved their art. But when it came home from preschool, all I ever saw was the THING they made. I didn’t see them making it. That’s where the real magic lies.

Now that I’m the preschool art teacher, I get a front row seat to their process. I see the look on their faces when they talk about you. I hear the way they sing your name as they glue and draw and paint.

I'm telling you, moms. They love you.

Here's another fun fact: Preschool children don't have money. They don't have a credit card. They want to give you something but they can’t drive to a store to buy you something you don’t already own.

Their art is the only thing they can give you that they know you don't have yet.

So the next time they hand you their newest drawing and say, “I made this for you,” I'm telling you: It’s true.

Watch the way they smile when you tell them how much you love it, and you’ll remember what I told you.

Tell them how happy it made you feel. Ask them to tell you the story of their drawing. They’ve been waiting all day to tell you. That’s what matters.

Just a few hours earlier, they sat at a little table in school, with their little fingers wrapped around a little crayon and said out loud with their full heart, “I'm making this for my Mommy.”

And they meant every word of that.