What Does the Fox Say?

My husband and I babysat for some friends a couple weeks ago. They have a three year old daughter and she is the most polite little girl in the whole world. As we were getting her ready for bed, we let her choose a couple of books to read. As she was browsing through her bookshelf for her favorites, I saw a book with a big fox on the front. We had read a book earlier that night that talked about what sounds different animals make. It hadn't mentioned a fox, and my husband and I both get a kick out of the viral video, so I pointed to the book cover with and smile and asked, "What does the fox say?" Without missing a beat, she turned to me, tilted her head to the side and asked, "Ring a ding?" Coolest. Kid. Ever.

Crushed Oreos

I was riding the UTA Trax to get to the University one winter morning. I was sitting across from a young mother and her little girl. As we passed Gardner Village we came up to some fields full of large mounds of broken up concrete. These mounds and all of the surrounding area were covered in snow. My only thought was, "Man, I wish I were back in Arizona right now!" The little girl was a little more optimistic. She jumped up out of her seat and pressed her hands and face against the window. She exclaimed to her mother, "Look! Just look at that mountain of crushed up Oreos!" I love the sweet knack children have for seeing the world in a different way. When I took a double take at the mounds, she was right! They definitely did look like mountains of crushed Oreos. May our imaginations ever flourish with out of the box thinking and creativity.

3 Going on 30

It's amazing what you overhear at the gym! I was walking to the locker rooms, and a mom and her daughter (about 3 or 4 years old) were walking down the hall. The mom asked how her daughter's trip to the child center went. She replied, "Man, I played so hard, I just really need a massage now! Mommy, lets go get a massage!"

No Way Jose!

One of my favorite memories from working at the LTF Child Center was July 25, 2008. The door to the toddler room was glass and we'd often have kids screaming, standing at the door, looking for mommy. Well, this particular day, one of the little girls was screaming at the door, as always. I tried to get her to play bubbles with me because that did the trick most days. I went over and knelt down next to her and said, "Hey, do you want to play bubbles with me, I'll let you blow!" She stopped crying, then turned to face me, looked me up and down, and replied, "No. WAAAAYYYYYY!" and continued screaming at the door.

Simple Pleasure

One simple pleasure is life is noticing people being nice. In Wal-Mart, I noticed a man at the checkout, he was about 50, balding, in a button up shirt and slacks. He looked worn out, but there was a timid excitement in his face as he made his purchase. It was a dozen red roses. As the cashier lady handed them back to him, his face lit up as he took them. Then he carried them out of the store so tenderly, as though they were the most precious thing in his world. Whoever is home, waiting for him, is one lucky woman!

Fustwation is the worst!

I was walking out of the gym the other day and there was a woman and her 3 year old son walking a little ahead of me. He was trotting along, then all of a sudden, he stopped dead in his tracks, dropped his mother's hand and said, "I just can't do this!" His mom asked, "Why not? What can't you do?" and he replied, "You make me so fustwated!" Then, elbows flying and booty swinging, he stomped his way out of the gym.

Grizzly

We had a new girl join our preschool class a few months ago. She is the smallest child in the class and is an absolute doll, quite literally. The other kids are always trying to pick her up and carry her around despite my protests against it. One of the other girls in the class can't seem to get her name right though. She calls her "Grizzly."

One day "Grizzly's" mom informed me that she refuses to call our class "preschool." Instead, she goes to "college" every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

A Taste of Her Own Medicine

I love my preschool kids. They are so funny and so dramatic!

One day during center time, I was observing how the children were interacting with each other. One of the girls, we'll call her Lexi for the sake of anonymity, kept rejecting everyone who wanted to play with her. She was pretty harsh about it and insisted that she wanted to play all by herself. After a while, the others got the hint and started playing without her. A minute or so after they had all contented themselves, Lexi looked around her and, finding herself alone, drew herself into a little ball and began to cry. Feeling that it was time for intervention, I went over to her and asked her what was wrong. She answered with a sigh, "Oh miss Jayne, I'm just a sad little kid and nobody wants to play with me."

Miscommunication

I don't think I've ever been taken so aback by a child's comment before.

When I still worked at the Child Center, I was talking to this 7 year old and we were quizzing each other on the capitals of the United States. Then we moved on to capitals of countries. This kid knew everything! He even knew the capital of Iceland and Kyrgyzstan. I'll admit it, Jeff Foxworthy- I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

His little brother came up and was listening to us. We ran out of countries and then, being silly, the 7 year old asked,

"What's the capital of your body?"

"My heart," I said.

"Wanna know what the capital of MY body is?" chimed in the little brother. He must have been 4 or 5, and no lie, he said,

"My tentacles!" I had to do a double take. That is NOT what I heard!

"You're WHAT?!" I said.

"My tentacles!" he repeated. I heard it correctly that time, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what he meant... After the shock of a comment like that coming out of a child that young wore off, I told my co worker and we died laughing

Spock

For the summer, I am working as a summer camp counselor for preschool age kids. I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I do. One of my very favorite kids, Jack, is a child prodigy. This kid is one of the most articulate and clever 4 year olds I've ever met. He often comes to camp with an encyclopedia and a new geographic fact or science experiment.

The most out of the blue thing he has ever done was when we were on the bus heading home from the Phoenix Children's Museum (which is fantastic by the way). As he was getting off the bus, he stopped and turned to the bus driver and told him to "live long and prosper" with the hand gesture and everything. I almost fell off the steps of the bus I was laughing so hard.