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The Art of Escapism [14 Aug 2006|06:49pm] O, that awful day when you leave your child at daycare for the first time! Will they be ok? Will the teachers know what they need? Will they play with the other kids? Will the other kids play with them? What if something happens and the center cannot get a hold of you? These are the thoughts and worries of most parents when they leave their child at a preschool for the first time. However, according to my keen observation, not all children react to the situation in the same way. There are at least three distinct attitudes children possess when leaving their parents. According to pyschology it has to do with their attachment. Something about secure attachments, avoidant attachments....but we are interested in that so much. There are children who will happily come into the center, wave goodbye to mom, and go on their merry way. O for more children like that...but for some reason the stupidest sperm must always be the fastest. Not that the other children are stupid, they just aren't as confident. The second type of course is the child that hangs onto Mom, arms wrapped tightly around her leg and has to pried off like gum on hot pavement. And since the child is usually crying his or her eyes out, they generally leave you sticky just like the gum. They kick and scream as Mom walks hesitantly out of the door and then pouts for a good amount of time before they will even venture near the toys. The third child though is the Escape Artist. This child will decieve you. He enters the room confidently and you think you have a wonderful, happy child that doesn't need Mom to interact for him. He goes right up to the table to play with the legos. He is confident, he is confident his mother won't leave him...but as he is playing, Mom sneaks out the door, without even saying goodbye (Thanks Mom.) This child will continue to play until, at one point, he casually looks over his shoulder and realizes Mommie Dearest is no longer present. But there is no crying, no screaming, nothing to warn you. The little child, unbeknowest to you, has formulateed in his mind that Mom has left him and he must get out...at all costs. We accepted a new child today, we will call him C. C is an escape artist. He is also quite a little fighter, but that's not part of the story. C had been playing fine all morning, he had found the lego train. Amazing things legos...a plastic rectangle that sticks to another plastic rectangle, but kids love them. These were even better though, plastic rectangles with wheels. Live couldn't be sweeter. All of the sudden, I noticed C stop making his lovely "choo-choo" sounds and look up....and look around...and realize, he didn't know anyone in the room. He focused his eyes on one of the three doors in the room. I guess he believed he must of spotted the exit, but it was in fact the director's office. Ever so slowly...not missing a beat, C's train switched directions. It began to head for the door. Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug,chug, JAILBREAK! C jumped up and opened the door and ran. Unfortunately for him, fortunately for me, he simply ran into a empty office. I caroled him back into the play room and he returned his train. One door down. A few minutes later the C express train decided to take another route. It detoured around Block City, through the forest of sewing spools some kid had set up, and over the bridge...the bridge of my foot, and took a direct line to the back classrooms. I caught up with him wandering the back classrooms, all dark since they were not in use. Politely I asked him to come back where all the kids and toys were. I told him it was no fun back here in the dark. "I'm fine" was his reply. Well I wasn't fine with it, so off we went. Abandoning all pretense of the train he ran back the hallway again and tried the classroom on the right this time. Another dead end, and another escort back to the playroom where everyone was cleaning up to go outside. Throughout this whole ordeal there were no tears, no cries, screams or even sighs. He was in control, he would find a way out. Outside we all went. Our outside facilities include a fenced in playground connected to a fenced in grassy area which are connected by a gate. The children at this particular time were being kept in the playground. But C saw his chance. In the blink of an eye, he was at the gate, had opened it and was off into the grassy area. I waasn't sprinting to catch up since the area is fenced but C took off like he was being chased from all sides. But he ended at a fence...he looked around quickly, his three year old eyes taking in all that they could and he found it, an escape vehicle! I've had many escape artists in my time, but this kid took the gold medal. Never have I seen one so determined. As soon as he spotted it, he ran across the field to hop in, his get away car, one of those red and yellow foot propelled Playschool cars...it must of ran out of gas, it didn't get far... Another attempt thwarted...only one option left. He found a bulldozer (another one by the great manufacturer, Playschool) and parked it right next to fence, and entertained himself for quite a while trying to dig, what I can only assume was an escape tunnel... Come on really, we aren't really that mean! Stay a while.... Top Overheard Preschool Quotes of the Day "I've got buffalos in my ear!" "It's going in my gut!" "God says we need snack!" "I know that game! It's called Chicken Toe: Three in a Row" "You forgot to put your landing seats on!" "Got a match?" "Are you drunk?" "Lunchables are made of earwax" "You ate my heart! You owe me!" ADD MEM EDIT

[13 Aug 2006|08:01pm] This great ancedote I'm afraid I wasn't present to witness. Yet it is so great that we will relate it secondhand from Miss Annie... All was quiet on the nap front...after all that's the way it's supposed to be right? Naptime equals sleep, right? O, one can only wish. A preschool teacher's dream would be to have just a five minute cat nap during naptime, or even get one lesson plan done, but there is always the one child that decides, "Hey, why should I go to sleep? Its much more fun rolling around on this blue piece of foam..." But as I said, all was quiet. Miss Annie was sitting in the naproom, minding her own business. Almost all of the kids were asleep. All except K****. She was still finding the carpet very interesting to pick at and across the room, her twin sister R****** was starting to stir a little. Non-nappers...a teacher's nightmare...it must be genetic. Miss Annie told K**** to settle down, she mustn't wake up her sister. So K**** obediently stopped making noise...with her mouth... All of the sudden there came a tremendous fart. (Who knew little ones had so much in them?) Miss Annie, trying not to laugh, calmly said, "K****, I told you not to make anymore noise." To which K**** innocently replied, "It wasn't me. My butt was talking!" Try that the next time you pass gas in a board meeting... ADD MEM EDIT

Intro [13 Aug 2006|07:59pm] I know little kids. At only 18, I've been a big sister for 14 years, worked in the church nursery for 8, volunteered with 3 and 4 year olds for 8, babysat for 8, and worked in a preschool for 5. I have a five year old brother at home and another one on the way. That's a lot of kids...and a lot of funny happenings. Kids really do say and do "the darnest things" So, to brighten your day and mine, I've decided to share. The only sad thing is that according to DYFS laws, I cannot post cute pictures of my preschoolers but I make up for it with some of my almost as cute siblings. ADD MEM EDIT

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