What does Montessori mean to me

I discovered Montessori six years ago when our first son was around one year old. I had no idea how it would shape the parenting journey I had just embarked upon. I was a brand new mom at the beginning of a great adventure, one that I had longed to begin for most of my life, and yet, something was missing.

As it became reality, I found myself struggling more than I expected.

I had love, plenty of past experience with keeping small children alive, practical knowledge and even pretty good instincts, but at the end of the day, I was surprised by how triggered I was by this small human. The frustration and impatience I felt with him, the nagging feeling that there was a better way, even boredom with the menial tasks of being home with him, all added to this feeling of unrest. Without realizing it, I was searching.

Montessori exploded into my life in a very unexpected way. I was looking at creating Busy Bags for my godson's Christmas present, and I came across a Montessori blog. On this blog there were all these amazing activities, this world I hadn't even known existed, and it was like something clicked into place - the missing piece to the parenting puzzle I had been searching for.

I created my first shelf work for my son the next day, and carved out a little space for him in the kitchen. My mind was reeling. Little did I know just how life changing this discovery would be.

Montessori led me to respectful parenting because of it's focus on following the child and respecting them as whole persons. It wasn't a foreign concept to me, in Catholicism there is a lot of beautiful theology surrounding children, but Montessori offered what felt like such measured, practical information for making this theology a reality.

Six years later, Montessori has evolved so far beyond the shelf work that first brought me to it - although I do have a room in my house dedicated to Montessori shelf work. It has become, whether I realize it or not, the lens through which I see my children and the home I am making for them.

More on that later, but for now,

Blessings,

Olivia