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."