Lesson Plans

There has been a bit of talk lately about "teaching the kids lessons at Babyland" and I'm here to say "Duh!" What the heck do you think we do all day? Poop and pee, eat, cry, push, hit, rake faces, tattle, drool, run around naked?!! Well, okay, we do do all those things, every day. But we also do a lot of other stuff too...

We do all the regular stuff like shapes, colors, right/left, abc's, numbers, matching, zipping, buttoning, velcroing (way easier than tying!), animals, animal sounds (ask Anna or Oliver what a lizard does sometime) puzzles, play-doh, color crayons (and NO I'm not mean because I keep a box of sharp ones for me ONLY!), paint, bubbles. At first we started with things like, first words (mama, daddy, Hi, bye-bye), both signing and speaking these, and feelings (hungry, happy, sad, mad, wet, poopy, tired). We are also learning boundaries and abilities. This is tough and sometimes there are adjustments that need to be made. Like the time someone told Anna to "push" Oliver away when he was bugging her. Now most of you know Anna and Oliver, there is a substantial size difference. And so when Anna decided to push Oliver away...Well, did you ever watch the Muppets? Did you ever see when Miss Piggy would get pissed at Kermit? She'd whop him a good one and he'd fly across the room, slam and slide down the wall. Well Anna pushing Oliver brought that image to my brain more than once! So we adjusted "push" Oliver to "walk away" from Oliver. This works way better. But I'm sure some days all Anna feels like she's done all day is walk away. Oliver is persistent! You could say we pretty much do all these things every day.


Not only are the kids in my care learning all the regular stuff they're also learning stuff I think is important. Stuff like Benchmade, Kershaw, Al Mar, Spider and Gerber are some of the best made pocket knives, the names of all the birds that come to our bird feeder (and the squirrels too), what the sounds we hear but can't see are, that trees are really important and we love them, what all the flowers we see on our walks are and what season it is when they are our favorite (I love a blossoming cherry tree but it's my favorite when it's starting to grow the fruit because all the tiny pink petals fall and you can walk through them with your eyes closed and it feels like snow, but warm!) and which one smells the best, that holding a door open for someone makes them smile the same as a wave or smile or good morning does, that Opaline is The best dog in the world!, that there's not much better than a great cup of coffee in the morning ;), that diamond willow makes a great walking stick because it's such strong wood that if you were walking and you started to fall into a ravine you just catch yourself with a twist of your stick to straddle the crack and climb up out of it, that it's okay to spit as long as you're working (or if you cough up nasty grossness), and that we need to put worms back in the dirt after it rains and they're on the sidewalk and that Mama Sherry loves them no matter what! There is oh so much more I teach these children. Things I don't even realize I've taught them until I hear it come from them; like what the sound of a good drink is, or what an older person sounds like when they try to get up off the floor.

For your information, these kids are getting the absolute best of me. I've done this before, I'm comfortable doing it, I love doing it, I'm good at doing it. You all will find out soon enough the pressures this world puts on kids and, if you're smart, you'll see the pressures you put on your kids. Do they really need them? At 1, Anna could find Waldo faster than anyone at the Tin Woodsman and probably at home too. She is a joy to share a conversation with. She's smart, funny and would do anything to help. Oliver is a kick. He is a funny little man. And he listens so intently at times (sometimes he chooses not to hear). And polite! In the six months I was not working I would sometimes stop by TW to see the kids, once when Oliver was having an extra tough time with his teeth (which meant he was raking every baby face that came within arms reach) I sat him in the little blue chair and explained that some day soon his teeth would all be in and they wouldn't hurt so bad and then he wouldn't have to be so mean. This sweet little man sat and listened very intently, with a concerned look furrowing his brow and when I was finished talking, in a very pained but thankful little voice, he said, "Okay, gank-you Chairwy." ("Okay, thank-you Sherry.")

"What more can I do for you oh mighty parents?" (That's in my booming, magic, smart-ass, genie voice) But honestly, what more could you wish for?