If today were a normal Friday, I would have been at work for a little over an hour. The younger toddler teacher would have just taken her kids to their classroom and my few kiddos at school already, would be finishing up their breakfast. I would be playing with the ones who didn't bring breakfast, most likely in our kitchen area, because this is their favorite place to play; with the food, dress up clothes, babies and blankets. They would hold the babies on their chest, cover them with a blanket on the floor, pat their backs and say, "Night, night, baby."
One of my little girls would constantly be pointing out and saying the names of all the objects in the room that she knows and can now say. "Shoes! .... Chair!....Puppy!" As well as every object in the classroom being the color brown.
9AM would roll around and all my monsters kiddos that hadn't pooped yet, would come potty with me. They would try hard to pull their pants down by themselves, pull the tabs of their diapers, ask, "Help, please" if they can't and then throw their diaper away and sit on the potty, if they want. Some would sit, some wouldn't, some would even pee in the potty. After trying the potty, they would go to their drawer, full of their diapers, sometimes take out a handful, until I remind them, "Just one diaper, please!" They would put one or five back and enthusiastically show me Minnie Mouse "Min Mouse" or "Elmo" on the one they chose.
After snack, we would go outside to run laps around our playground (say it with me, "longer nap time") and my co-teacher and I would throw balls up on top of our shade umbrella and watch the balls roll down and our kids would laugh when the balls bounce on the ground. We could do this all day. They would fill their play shopping carts with balls, sit in the cars and tell their friends, "Bye, bye, see ya" and drive away. They would climb the side of the play tree and count 1, 2, 3, and "Jump!" They would pop bubbles with their fingers and feet and say, "Pop, bubbles, pop!" They would color with chalk on the sidewalk but only on the pictures their teachers had already drawn. They would point out the truck that just drove by, which sounds like a word that shouldn't be coming out of a one year old's mouth. They would shove their balls through the holes in the side of the tunnel and think it's hilarious when their teachers push them back through from the other side.
Can we just take a minute to think about how simple happiness is when you're one, almost two.
Everyday at work, I am reminded how simple life can be, how it's the simple things that really do make us happy. Yes, at times I get frustrated because I am surrounded by one year olds who are terribly emotional, dramatic and sometimes, mean and rough with their friends, but they continue to shock me with the words that come out of their mouths for the first time, how caring they really can be towards each other. When they rub their friend's back when their friend hasn't gotten their way, needed to be redirected or are mad at something, that no one else has a clue about but them, and are throwing a tantrum and crying on the floor. When they show each other where certain toys go or how the blocks need to be placed in the bucket to make them all fit. When they hold hands and just walk around the classroom or playground together or just give hugs in the middle of popping bubbles. It's times like these when I know I am doing something right and am in the right profession for me.
You couldn't pay me to work in an office. With adults.
I spend my days turning everything into a song, "Circle time, circle time, we all love circle time!" I make a fool of myself by talking in ridiculous voices. I don't have to shower because my kids love me no matter what I look like or smell like. I get paint on my clothes, arms, sometimes my face. I get boogers and tears on my clothes and on occasion, poop. I talk about simple things like colors, shapes, feelings and counting to ten, all day long. I read books with way too much enthusiasm and show my kiddos things like pinwheels, whistles, magnets and grass and it's all amazing to them. My days are filled with matching simple pictures of food, letters and shapes and teaching my littles to "turn the picture around so the velcro sticks." Velcro, who doesn't love velcro?
Simplicity, people.
On a normal Friday, I would be so thankful that it's the end of the week. I would be saying, "TGIF" to all my fellow teachers that I pass in the hallway or on my lunch break. I would be counting down the hours until I was "child-free" for a couple days. All of you who work a full work week and then go home to children, well, you're super human.
Our school is closed today for Spring Break so it's not a normal Friday. It's now 9AM and I'm still in bed, drinking my coffee, blogging; not encouraging potty use, saying, "Yay, you did it! You went potty" and clapping my hands. I can't believe I am saying this, but I would be fine with a normal Friday, that's what makes today so stinkin awesome!
Here's to today!
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