I work with kids all day. There is a certain accountability that I have to stick to.

There is an Individualized Education Plan. There are goals and objectives. No matter how relaxed or natural I can try to be, if I am doing my job, those goals HAVE to be somewhere in my mind.

I'm not complaining because I love it, BUT I had a great break this afternoon.

I went to pick up some things at a friend's house after work. I was planning to dash right off, but her four-year-old daughter, Camille, asked me to come and see her room. The great thing about it was that I had NO agenda at all and SHE was in charge. (Which, by the way, is what Camille likes to have...charge!)

So, off we went and before I knew it, there were princesses and ponies all over the place. She was showing me magic wishing rocks and special books. I'm not sure if this was just because she knows what I like, but just about every toy she showed me was Disney related.

Then she cooked a snack in her pretend oven and served it like a mini-Martha Stewart. She fussed attentively as I ate my magic tomato soup. Then I was served some cute little cookies and chocolates which, I was told with a serious tone, were not real so don't really bite them.

As I was leaving, I was given a paper with random letters written on it, many of them reversed in that cute way that four year-olds have. I'm sure she just took it from the fridge, but, as letters can be anything at that age, she explained in great detail what the letter was saying to me.

I'm guessing my little visit lasted fifteen or thirty minutes, but I walked away with a nice feeling that lasted for hours.

It was clear that Camille's goal was to show hospitality, even if I was just looking at toys and eating imaginary food. I think her goal was to make me feel welcome.

And it worked.

I love spending time without that agenda of things that I must keep in mind in order to do my job. So much of what I do involves making people feel welcome, cared about, hopeful, energized. I've had all this school and training to learn how to do that.

But, I think, a little girl showed me up in a big way. I hope I can do half as good a job with making my students feel that special and enchanted.

I left thinking "and a little child shall lead them." The whole drive home I wondered just how special this little girl was going to be in the world because, if her goal is hospitality, she is already an expert.

And that is today's blog.