My name is Madison Cohen.

I  work with children (ages 5 to 6) in an  after school program called “Beyond the Bell”. 

I have one boy named Daniel B. Dan for short. Dan is your average kindergartner  who misses his mommy. Every moment he would approach me and ask me, “What time is it '' or “Is mommy here yet” and “Is it five yet?”. That is what I get for wearing a watch everyday.  Five o clock is when his mother normally came. Dan would normally burst into tears due to missing his mother. Neglect his classmates and friends and isolate himself. He would tell me how much he loves his mommy and I couldn't  bare seeing him cry over missing her. 

When I was younger I was the same. I always took one of my mom's shoes to school because I missed her so much, and so I knew she would come back for me. I saw myself in Daniel. 

I couldn't stand it anymore. I spent an hour before work creating a paper clock with a single hour hand. I marked the hours 2 through 5 on the clock and gave the clock to him and told him when I say so, turn the hand to the correct hour. On paper, it was only 3 hours. And to a young kid that doesn't quite understand time yet, it wasn't a lot. As he knows, “3” is a little number. “Mommy Time” came faster than ever before, according to Daniel and he brings his clock in everyday and hasn't cried since. I'm proud of my Daniel.