At The Village, a tree growing just outside the program became much more than part of the landscape. To the children, she was Mama Tree, a familiar presence they visited, talked about, played around, and grew alongside.
When Mama Tree became ill and had to be cut down this year, her loss was deeply felt by both the children and educators. One parent, noticing how much the tree meant to her children and their friends, saved a piece of the trunk and transformed it into a meaningful keepsake for the program. She also shared this beautiful reflection about how her child experienced the loss, made sense of Mama Tree’s illness, and continued to carry that relationship forward.
There were several times during the last few months when B and I were walking home from The Village and B pointed out two specific trees on our walk: “Mama Tree” and “Daddy Tree.” I didn’t fully understand the significance of the trees until the day Mama Tree was cut down. On that day, about a month ago, S explained to me that many of the children refer to the two trees by those names and that they were devastated about Mama Tree being torn down. S had tears in her eyes when she told me this, and I understood then what an impact the tree has had on the children and educators alike.
On the same day, when I was walking home from picking up my eldest daughter from Junior Kindergarten, I saw the city workers were still cutting the tree into pieces; it was a huge, beautiful tree that took all day to cut down. I asked them why they were cutting it down and explained to them the significance of the Mama Tree for the children at a nearby daycare. I asked if they would mind cutting a slice for me, which they generously cut for me on the spot. It took several days for me to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the wood, all the while watching the centre of the piece become darker and darker as the rot started setting in and drying out. The workers had said the tree had to be cut down for safety because it was rotting on the inside. I saw the centre continue to darken and noticed how the discolouration looked like the trunk of a tree.
As B’s time at Maple Seeds was drawing to a close, I wanted to gift the incredible educators with something meaningful; this is when I thought of turning the discolouration inside the wood it into a tree and including each child in the program on the piece to commemorate an important symbol for the children and educators. The Reggio Emilia approach highlights the environment as a teacher, and I knew the Mama Tree was an important educator during the time she was standing as well as now that she is gone. I wanted to document that in a way that would be special for the educators and the children.
The first few times B and I walked home after Mama Tree’s demise, B was visibly sad that she was cut down. I empathized with her and agreed that it was sad. I explained that the tree was sick, and showed her the discolouration that was visible throughout the pieces of trunk that remain on the ground as well as on the piece that stayed with us for several weeks while I prepped it to gift. B wanted to talk a lot about the tree being sick during that time. I believe it was her way of processing the sadness of the tree being cut down.
Now when we walk by, B is the one to point out that Mama Tree was sick. Sometimes we stop to look at the pieces or stand on the remaining stump, and other times we acknowledge her and then continue to walk by. We have since named other trees in our neighbourhood Mama Tree. I find it fascinating that the children see trees as people, particularly important people such as immediate family members. B has other Daddy Trees, Grandpa Trees, and Grandma Trees in the neighbourhood as well. How incredible it is that the children have this innate respect for nature; there is so much we can learn from them.
I want to thank all of the educators again for their dedication and passion for walking with our children as they explore the world around them. I hope the piece of Mama Tree helps to remind them of the impactful and meaningful work they do and how grateful we as parents are for each of them.
-- T, a parent of The Village Childcare Services
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