Rainy Day Blues

"Keep your feet on the floor."

"Toys are not for throwing."

"Use your walking feet."

"Gentle hands please."

"Use your words."

"Do you need to sit on time out?"

"Use your listening ears."

"I SAID STOP!"

Over and over all day long I found myself repeating these things.  There was no end to it.  I was a broken record or skipping CD.  I was making myself want to scream almost as much as they were making me want to scream!

Sometimes it seems like they forget all the rules when we are stuck inside on rainy days.  Sometimes I wonder if they do it just to make rainy days feel like they are going to last forever.

Today was only day 2 of what looks to be not only a rainy day but a rainy WEEK!  Not sure I will have any remaining sanity by the end of it.

Anyone know of an insane asylum with an empty rubber room?  If it really does rain all week, I am going to need it!

Toddler Art - Snowmen

No two snow flakes are alike, so I guess the same should apply to snowmen, right?  Especially when they are made by toddlers!

I love doing art with the toddlers at the daycare.  I don't always enjoy the mess taht goes along with it, but that's beside the point!  I have fun doing all kinds of art - finger painting, easel painting, glueing, colouring, etc - with them.  But my favourite is a glueing project where they glue pieces together to actually create something specific.

I've done eyes, nose and mouth on faces, putting Humpty Dumpty back together, faces on pumpkins, leaves and petals on flowers and most recently, snowmen.

When I do these projects with the kids, I glue one together a head of time, so that they have a visual example of what we are creating.  Then I put glue on the pieces, one at a time, and let them stick it on their paper.  I point to each piece of the sample as I give it to them, but they choose where to put it.

When it is all said and done . . . well, take a look!

  

Some are standing proud and tall.

Some are a little wobbly.

Some look like they have fallen over.

Some look like they are just pieces floating in the air.

Some look like they have melted.

I may be a little biased, but this is Liam's snowman, and it is my favourite!

It really doesn't matter what the finished snowman looks like.  The kids know that they have made a snowman and they are happy and proud of their creations.  And the parents love to see what their children's masterpieces.

Toddler Talk

Watching a child develop from an infant to a toddler is a wonderfully interesting experience.  One of the most fascinating aspects of this journey, for me, is language development.  Over the years, I have seen many toddlers go from not being able to say any real words to speaking in sentences as well as asking and answering questions.  And it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they can learn and develop these skills.

Now, it is even more exciting as I get to experience it with my own son.  It has been a while since I posted about his language skills and we were still very much in the Baby Talk phase at that point, but Liam has recently leap into speaking like a toddler.  His vocabulary is growing every day and it is just incredible!  Of course at 22 months, there is still a lot of incomprehensible babble but the real words just keep coming and coming.  

Here are some of his favorite, well pronounced words: cat, dog, cow, meow, daddy, turtle, toes, nose, shoe, eye, car, ball, frog, cup, bear, no, mine, hi, hello, bye, night-night, stat, yep, up, down, help, stuck.  The list could go on, but those are the ones we hear the most often.

And then there are my favorites, the words that don't quite sound like they are supposed to, but we know what he is saying, these are the ones that I really want to remember because they are so cute and so unique.

beeair - bunny, not sure why because we have bunnies, and it doesn't seem like it would be a difficult word, but whatever!

Nonny - Mommy, I believe that he has combined Nicki with Mommy to get this, I am just glad that he's not calling me Nicki anymore.

warewane - airplane, he is completely obsessed with airplanes!

pea - please

tak u - thank you

Kikle- Tickles (one of the cats)

Ayaya - Nala (the other cat)

taktar -tractor

ire uck - fire truck

peea - pizza

lrd - lizzard

key - cookies

Ashee - Ashley, his favorite daycare teacher

Nini - Wini, another of his daycare teachers

Anana - Hannah, a girlfriend at daycare

SeeSee - Sidney, another daycare girlfriend

catca - butterfly, no idea how he came up with this, but he's been consistently saying it for months!

Melmo - Elmo

cheechees - cheesies

Everyday, I wait and listen for now words and love how smart my little boy is becoming, even though he is growing far too fast!

Naptime

I would give just about anything to get to have a nap after lunch everyday.  To curl up with a blanket and pillow and sleep for two hours would be heaven on earth for me.

Yet, the toddlers at work who need the naps so often went nothing to do with nap time.

First off, who decided that toddlers need nap time more than adults?  We work hard all day, often stay up later than we would like fulfilling our parental duties or finishing household chores while they go to bed early and, well, SLEEP.  Then, we get up early so that we can shower and get dressed in peace before the kids get up and destroy the house that we stayed up late cleaning (while they were SLEEPING) the night before.  And did I mention that we work hard all day while they play?

And then there's the fact that you have to fight with them so that they will sleep - rubs their backs, sing lullabies, read stories - all of it just about puts me to sleep everyday as we fight to get these darlings settled for their naps.  Once they are sleep, we have to tiptoe around to keep them asleep or at least quite for two hours.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some who fall straight to sleep and stay asleep for the full two hours (and I thank my lucky stars everyday that Liam is one of those ones!) but all the rest exhaust me and make me want to give up and go home for a nap of my own!

Liam is a Toddler . . .

If there was any doubt in my mind, after today it is gone!  Liam is a toddler.  He had a full out, the world is coming to an end temper tantrum of epic proportions at the pediatrician's office this afternoon.

For the most part, he is still my sweet, cooperative, adorable baby boy, but then, out of now where comes the stubborn, testy, independent toddler.  Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things I love about toddlers. I love listening to him learn to say new things, his favorite thing to say lately is "E I E I O".  I love watching him learn to do things for himself and most of the time that he wants to do things by himself.  I love watching him socialize and interact with other people.  

However, he is already one of the most stubborn toddlers that I know!  And he remembers EVERYTHING!  Which is a good thing much of the time but also a bad thing.  If you let him do something once, you can be sure that he will remember and do it again.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but he will do it again!  

This afternoon, Liam was playing very nicely with two little cars in the waiting room at the pediatrician's office.  Everything was great, he was his usual happy, friendly self until they called his name and I told him to put the cars down.  He looked at me and started to follow Daddy, cars still in hand.  Being the horrible mean mother that I am, I made him put the cars away.  (I knew that a melt down would ensue but I also know what happens when parents give into their child's every whim!  And I am not going to be one of those parents!)  Once the cars were pried from his death grip, he dropped to the floor and started to scream.  He refused to walk into the examining room.  He didn't want to be carried.  It was not a pretty sight.

I was sure that a change of scenery and his own cars from the diaper bag once we got into the room would fix the problem.  Boy, was I wrong!  The screaming and crying continued while the nurse weighed and measured him.  Again, I thought that once she was done bugging him, he would play happily with his cars until the doctor came in.  Wrong, again.  He threw his cars, he kicked and continued to complain.  It continued through the whole appointment.  

And then came the needles (18 month booster and MMR shot), well as you can well imagine, that just made everything worse!  Once we left the office and were out in the hall, he was still going, hitting me and pushing me away from him.  When I finally put him down he took off down the hall away from me. However, let him walk to the elevator and out of the building by himself seemed to help the situation.  And a sippy cup of milk in the truck fixed it all!  My happy boy was back!

The appointment went very well.  Liam is a healthy growing boy.  He is 25 lbs 5 oz and 31.5" tall.  Hard to believe that 19 months ago he was 5 lbs, 5 oz and so sick that he was hospitalized twice in the first few weeks.  I am so glad that we are past those days!  I just hope that temper tantrums like today are few and far between!

Playing Boss

This past week I worked in the office for the week as my supervisor was on vacation.  It was the first time since my promotion in October that I've had the opportunity to work in the office for more than a day or two at a time.

And I got to do a little bit of everything - work out coverage for staff coming in late and leaving early for appointments, organize appropriate coverage for staff lunch breaks, attempt to fill daycare spaces with new children, try to organize the waiting list, send sick children home, book supply staff, deal with repair people, organize the training of a new cook, inform a staff that she is being transfered to another program, inform staff of shift changes, make photocopies, fill in the paysheets, do paperwork and filing . . . and I'm sure there are other things that I missed.  And that's not to mention the countless phone calls to the supervisor at the other center and the director.

I know that it is all part of the job that Rhonda does on a daily basis and I've had a taste of it all on my others days in the office, but for my first full week, it was a bit overwhelming.  Despite being somewhat overwhelmed, I did throughly enjoy the week and I am looking forward to another week of playing boss in August.  Normally, I am not one for change but this is a very comfortable change and every time I have a day or even part of a day to work in the office it becomes more comfortable.

Unfortunately, going back into the program after even a day in the office is more difficult than I expected.  It always seems like I have missed out on much more than a day with my kids and it takes both them and me a little while to get back into the swing of things.  And life in the toddler room is just so much busier and louder than life in the office!  

Despite my enjoyment of my office time and the difficulty that I have getting back into my routines in the program, I'm not sure that I would want to be a full time supervisor right now.  It is a place that I do hope to get at some point in my career and if the opportunity presented itself, I would not turn it down but right now, I like my toddlers too much!  Some days they drive me mad, some days I feel like I never want to change another diaper or potty change another child, sometimes I want to scream, sometimes I want to run away and never come back, but then one of them randomly runs over and give me a big hug and reminds me how important my job is and that despite all the little things that drive me batty, I really do love toddlers.  And I am happy and content with where I am in my career.

Part Boy, Part Monkey, or Maybe Part Mountain Goat

I predicting many trips to CHEO for x-rays and stitches for this child of mine!  We've hit the climbing stage like you would not believe!  And he LOVES it!  

He climbs on the couch . . . 

He climbs onto rubbermaid tubs . . . 

He stands on the footstool . . . 

He even turns the metal dog food dishes upside down and tries to stand on them - one foot on each dish, just to make it more challenging.  It doesn't matter is something is two inches high or two feet high, he will try to climb it!

His latest game involves putting his foam chair on the couch . . . 

Climbing onto the couch . . . 

Then climbing into the chair . . . 

He sometimes sits quietly on the chair for about 10 seconds . . . 

Before he slides off it onto the floor like a slide . . . 

Sometimes he reaches for Daddy's help . . . 

But mostly he just does it on his own . . . 

Life as we knew it has ceased to exist!  I am now constantly looking at everything in every room to see if there is any way that Liam will be able to climb on it!  I am dreading the day he realizes that he can climb trees!  

What happened to the little baby who didn't move when I put him on a blanket on the floor?  Oh yeah, he grew into a toddler who doesn't sit still EVER!!!

Maybe it's just a climbing phase that he will grow out of . . . I can hope, can't I??

Good Bye Old Friends . . . Hello New Friends!

Today we said good-bye to four of our toddlers as they graduated to our preschool program which is located in another building.

I have been working in daycare for 12 years (yikes, that makes me feel old!), so I've gotten used to kids coming and going.  Saying good bye is all a part of the territory, especially with infants and toddlers as they  aren't in the same program for more than a year.  However, I have been with this particular group of kids since they were infants, so I have developed a much stronger attachment to them.  Before my maternity leave, I worked in the infant program with all four of these kids.  Than, after my met leave, I found myself in the toddler program with them again.  Although I missed eight months with them, I feel like I've watched them grow and develop every day for the pst two years.

They all have a special place in my heart and I will remember them all fondly.

"A" was almost a year old when she joined us and has always been very grown up for her age.  On a regular basis, she blows me away with her knowledge and language skills.  She is already well on her way to becoming a teacher or a lawyer!  

"H" is our little Ladies Man!  He had a very difficult time when he first started daycare at 9 months.  I remember wondering if he would ever adjust, but he did.  And although he has had some difficult phases (including potty training!) he has grown into a happy, friendly, entertaining little boy.  I will miss his curiosity, asking me a dozen times a day, "Nicki, what doing?"

"M" was a pretty easy, go with the flow kind of baby.  As a toddler, she started off pretty quiet and suddenly, almost over night she became a little chatter box with a very vivid imagination!  I will always remember her as "Rhonda's girl" wanting to go to the office or to visit the babies!

And finally, there is "G", my little Peaches.  "G" and I bonded almost from day one, when she was a little tiny six month old baby.  For the first few days, maybe even longer, I was the only who could get her to eat or sleep.  She was a "Nicki's girl"until the day I felt for mat leave and stepped right back into that spot the day I returned to work.  And as much as she loves me, I think she loves my "Baby Liam" even more.  Along with all my other memories of Peaches, I will always remember her as Liam's first girl friend because he loves her too."

As much as I am sad to say good bye, I am very happy for them.  They are all more than ready to move on.  They will all have a wonderful time learning new things, making new friends and forming exciting relationships with their new teachers at Preschool.

And every time a child leaves our program, it makes room for a new one to start.  Friday is a day of new beginnings as one new toddler enrolls in our program and three babies move up to the toddler program, one of which is my Liam.  And in the coming weeks, we will see more friends leave us for preschool and move new friends join our fun little group!

All in a day's work!

No, I wasn't scratched by a cat or any other type of animal.  I was scratched by an angry toddler!  The child, usually one of the best behaved of the group recently found out that mom is expecting a baby and has started lashing out at me whenever things don't go her way.  And lately, that is often!

It's not the first time I've gone home with scratches or bite marks, in child care, it is all in a day's work!

Toddler Personalities

Do all toddlers suffer from multiple personality disorder?  I am seriously beginning to think that they do!  The sweetest, most cuddly child can go from quietly looking at a book to beating his best friend over the head with said book for no obvious reason.  There's the little girl who is carefully playing with one of the younger children, then as quickly as if someone flicked a light switch, she becomes Little Miss Bossy, telling everyone (including the teachers) what to do and how to do it.  Another child appears to be my best friend is suddenly hitting and scratching me because I needed her to move a step so I could open a door.  This same child can adore a person one day and the next day be too shy to even speak to the same person.

If you can imagine a personality type, chances are a toddler has it hidden in there somewhere.  They are very unpredictable creatures, you never know quite what you are going to get or when you are going to get it.  Chances are if you expect that a situation will cause a scene and are prepared for it, it will go by unnoticed.  And then, when you least expect it, some insignificant little thing will cause a melt down of epic proportions.

When it comes to toddlers, you have to always be on top of the game, prepared for everything - ready to give hugs and kisses to kids who adore you; ready to deal with outbursts from kids who feel like they hate you; ready to redirect behaviors; ready with firm words and time outs; ready to be a doctor for boo-boos big and small, real and imaginary, new and old; ready for anything you can imagine and a million things that you can't.

And don't expect to figure them out - ever!  Because even with more than 10 years experience with toddlers, I haven't figured them out.  Every time I think I'm getting close, a new one comes along and blows everything I thought I knew about them out the window!  There is never a dull moment in a toddler program . . .

Why???

Do you ever wonder why you chose your current profession?

Do you ever wish you could turn back time and choose a different career path?

Usually I only have those thoughts when I think about how poorly child care workers are paid compared to other professions.  And when I am fantasizing about writing for a living!

But this past week, there were countless times when I wondered what the f*ck I was thinking when I decided to become an ECE.  This week was filled with just about everything that makes an ECE's job difficult - sick/absent staff, supply teachers, late staff, miserable kids, aggressive kids, communicable illness . . . the list could go on and on.

I hardly sat down all week -  between continuing to delve into Potty Training Hell, breaking up seemingly constant fights, putting ice packs on bo-bos, cleaning up messes from art, lunch and snack, I was seriously on my feel all week.  Not only was it excruciatingly exhausting, it made me realize that I REALLY need new/better work shoes!

Toddlers are more unpredictable than a teenaged girl with PMS.  I have got two little boys who can be the best of friends one second, playing so nicely together and then without any warning they are beating the snot out of each other or biting each others faces off.  (And yes, I mean that literally!)  They go from perfectly respectable children to wild animals in 0.3 seconds.  I have another little girl who hits and scratches me every time i ask her to do something that she doesn't want to do.  And we won't even talk about the fact that I stepped on a child this week!

And then there is all the behind the scenes confidential stuff that as head teacher I know about.  And although my "need to know everything" personality is thrilled that I know some of these details, some of it just frustrates me beyond words.

I keep telling myself that this week has got to be better than last week, but in reality I am dreading going to work tomorrow, just in case this week isn't any better.  Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy my job, just some days (or in this case, weeks) I would really love to be able to say "I don't need this" and quit.  But the reality of my life is that I need to work and despite having a bad week,  I can't imagine anything else I'd rather do for a living.  (Except for my daydreams of writing all day long . . . )

"Nicki did it!"

I love toddlers, I love toddlers, I love toddlers . . . really, I do!  But sometimes I wonder why!

This morning, between trips to the bathroom with the boys, one of my girls, we'll just call her Peaches, decided that she wanted to beat up one of the boys.  I told her to stop and in typical defiant two year fashion, she looked right at me as she continued to hit him up side the head.  It was now obvious that I was going to have to move her away from him, so I start to walk towards her.  Knowing that she was in trouble, Peaches threw herself on the floor right in front of me, causing me to step on her arm.

Now, of course, I instantly felt HORRIBLE about this as I picked her off the floor, screaming like she was being tortured, to survey the damage.  Fortunately, the scream was MUCH worse than the injury.  One could say that Peaches is a little bit of a drama queen . . . and by little bit, I really mean that she should win an Oscar for some of her performances.  Her arm was red and there were some small scratches form the sole of my shoe, but it could have been a lot worse.  If my full weight (and don't even think about asking what that is!) had gone on to her little arm, I am sure that it would have broken bones.

However, regardless of how minor the actual injury was, the Oscar performance lasted for about an hour after I stepped on her, with Peaches sulking around and holding on to her arm like it was going to fall off.  Perhaps she was trying to convince me that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Whatever it was, as soon as lunch arrived, the bo-bo was forgotten for a little while.  Funny how it was remembered again as soon as the food was gone and it was nap time!

After nap, Peaches continued to take great pleasure in making me feel guilty.  On numerous occasions (and by numerous, I mean so many times I that I couldn't begin to count!) she came up to me clutching her arm, saying "bo-bo, bo-bo, Nicki did it."  Or she would hold it out to me, give me a sad look and say "Kiss it."  And she quite delighted showing everyone her bo-bo and announcing "Nicki did it!" while grinning from ear to ear.

As the day went on it was a toss up between feeling horribly guilty for hurting one of my darlings and laughing at her showing everyone and telling them that I did it.  The conversation would go a little like this:

Peaches:  "Bo-bo." (holding her arm out like it was about to fall off)
Teacher:  "What happened?" (looking at her arm)
Peaches:  "Nicki did it." (grinning from ear to ear)
Teacher:  "What did Nicki do?"
Peaches:  "Give me bo-bos."
Teacher:  "No, Nicki didn't give you bo-bos.  What happened to your arm?"
Peaches:  "Nicki did it."
Teacher:  "I don't think Nicki did that.  You're being silly."
Peaches:  "Nicki did it.  Nicki give me bo-bos"
At this point I would interject with a nod to indicate that, yes, I did indeed do it.
Peaches:  "Nicki did it."
Teacher:  "How did Nicki give you bo-bos?"
Peaches:  "Nicki step on it."
Then she would run off to play and wait until the next opportunity to tell her story.

Seriously, how could I not laugh at this??  I am just glad that her parents are very understanding about things like this!  And I can hope that none of the other parents heard her saying that Nicki gave her bo-bos without hearing the whole story!

I tell you, there is never a dull moment with these kids . . . but I love them!  I really do!

Potty Training Hell

Most people get up in the morning and go to work.  I however do not.  I get up every morning and venture into potty training hell.  As you know, I work in a large toddler program - 20 kids between 18 and 30 months with 4 teachers, which means we each have a group of 5 to deal with take care of.

My 5 kids range in age from 23 to 30 months and they are currently ALL wearing underwear!  This doesn't happen often, usually a group has a mix of trainers and diaper wearers.  But no, I have a group that ALL want to be training at the same time!  And although I LOVE toddlers, they are my favorite age group, I hate, despise, loathe, potty training.  Especially when it comes to training 3 boys all at once!  (The two girls in my group are 98% toilet trained and have been for a couple of months.)

My day consists of taking my three boys to the potty every 15-20 minutes all day long.  Where I encourage them to pull down their pants, then I beg them to pull down their pants and then sometimes, I just give in and do it for them so that they don't pee their pants standing beside the potty because they are being too stubborn to do it themselves.  (By the way, if you aren't already aware, toddlers are the most stubborn creatures on the face of the planet . . . but that is a topic for another post on another day when I am not obsessing about my potty training hell!)  

For the most part, they are all very eager to sit on the potty or toilet but with boys, especially "little" boys, how they sit on said potty is very important.  Once they are sitting, I can't take my eyes off them for even a second because as we are all aware, boys come with a built in dangly toy that, although it is usually hidden, it suddenly becomes exposed during potty time.  Now, I understand that this "special playtime" is natural for males of all ages and developmental stages, it is not something to be encouraged in public.  But mostly, I MUST discourage this because if we get lucky and one of these little boys actually has to pee while sitting on the potty, I need that little dangler to be pointed into the potty!  Otherwise I will be cleaning pee off the floor or the wall or me or another child, not to mention off the child who peed.  Even if they aren't playing with it, those little things have a mind of their own sometimes -  you really never know where the pee might end up!

So, we sit on the potty, well, they sit, I stand, hopefully out of the spray's way, until they proclaim "I done!", then stand up, turn around, proudly point at the EMPTY potty and exclaim "I PEE!  I PEE!"  I sigh and explain, "not this time, maybe next time."  If by chance one of them actually does pee, I jump up and down like a lunatic clapping and cheering for them, but that doesn't happen very often.  Then it is back to encouraging, begging and finally pulling up their pants for them, helping them wash their hands and sending them off to play while I disinfect the potties for the next round.

If I am lucky, we have 15 minutes of play time before we start it all over again.  If I'm not lucky (which is more often the case) I find a puddle, a little boy (or girl) playing in wet pants or one of them comes waddling to me "I peed."  Then it's back to the bathroom to peel off the pee soaked clothes (again, if I am lucky it is just pee, but we won't even get into that part of potty training hell!) put the clothes in a bag to go home (lucky mom and dad) and get them dressed again.  (All of this has the same three steps as going to the potty - encourage, beg and do it myself.)

What makes this all even more difficult is the fact that every time I am in the bathroom with one of my potty trainers, the rest of my groups is playing unattended - now, I can see them from the bathroom but I'm not close enough to break up fights or catch the toy that is being thrown at someone's head.  Yeah, there is never a dull moment with toddlers!

Sooner or later, these three boys will be reliably potty trained, but until then, there won't be much else happening with my group!  Art?  Stories?  Play?  Sorry kids, I don't have time for that because it is time to go to the potty!!  Yes, again!

So, if any of you have toddlers who are being toilet trained at daycare, please take a moment this week to say thanks to your child's care givers because I can tell you, with 12 years experience, that training a group of toddlers is not an easy job!  And if you are potty training your own child at home, thank your lucky stars that you just have one!!


https://twitter.com/NickiLynnM

The Week After a Long Weekend . . .

It never ceases to amaze me how young children, especially toddlers, thrive on routine.  Any change, no matter how big or how small can cause a MAJOR disruption in life as you know it.  A four day weekend is a HUGE change in the life of a toddler.  Four days away from daycare is like an eternity for them.  At least it must be, because when they came back from the Easter long weekend it seems as though they have forgotten all the rules and expectations of the daycare.  I think that it is worse than the full moon effect!

They run and scream . . .
They hit, scratch and bite. . .
They push and shove . . .

They have forgotten how to sit on their chairs at the table . . .
They have forgotten that they are supposed to pee in the toilet, not their pants . . .
They have forgotten that they need to take turns and share . . .

It is a good thing they are cute little darlings, because sometimes that's all that gets me through the day!!!!!


***  I really do love my job!  I really do love toddlers!  But somedays . . . let's just leave it at that!!

Gotta love toddlers . . .

I spent the last two days at work in the office.  I was a nice quiet way to end the week.  I quite enjoy my days in the office, although I'm not sure that I am at the point in my career where I would want to do it all the time.  Filling in for my supervisor is enough for me right now!

When I am in the office, I don't get to see much of the kids, so when I do go into the program, they are very exited to see me.  They jump up and down, they scream, they yell "Hi Nicki" about a dozen times, it is much the same as someone who freaks out at seeing their favorite celebrity.  It really does good things to a person's ego!!!

This afternoon, I did get to spend a little bit of time with my kids in the backyard.  I couldn't help but laugh at one of my guys.  He is two and half and although he has been able to speak well for quite some time, until recently, he has been fairly quiet, mostly just speaking when spoken too.  However, he has been speaking a lot more in recent weeks and it makes me smile when he comes up to me and says anything without me having to prompt him to talk with me!  Today, he just made me laugh.

He comes zooming over to me in a cozy coupe car and stopped mere inches from bashing into my legs.  "Hi Nicki, Hi Nicki, Hi Nicki." he says excitedly.  "What are you doing??"

"Watching you and your friends play," I responded.  "What are you doing?"

He looked at me for about 10 seconds and said, "Watching you play, Nicki."

He spent the rest of the time I was outside riding the car around the yard.  Every time he passed me he said, "Nicki, I'm watching you play."

It's moments like this that remind me why I love my job.  This little boy started in the infant program before I went on my maternity leave as a 9 month old infant.  He screamed bloody murder and would not take a bottle from us for the first two weeks.  It just amazes me how quickly they grow and learn.  Makes me wish that we had more time with them before they move on to the preschool program, just so that I could watch them continue to develop into little people.

The Full Moon Effect

I know that a lot of people don't think that a full moon effects people's behaviors, but I for one an a believer.


I have worked in daycare with infants and toddlers for over 10 years and can tell you without a doubt that the week surrounding a full moon (3-4 days before as well as 2-3 days after) is the busiest and most challenging of any month.  I always know before checking the calendar that the full moon is imminent - the kids get louder, they don't listen, they run as well as climb on and jump off of everything!  They are crankier and needier than usual.  The most independent of toddlers will suddenly turn into the child that needs to be carried around all day long.  (Just to make this even more of a challenge, it is usually the biggest child of the group!)  And even the most docile of children can become insanely aggressive - they suddenly hit, push, scratch and bite each other!  It is like all of the usual children have stayed home and sent their evil twins to daycare instead!


"Use your walking feet."  If I've said it once, I've said it 500 times (per day!) this week.  "Keep your feet on the floor," and "use your indoor voice," have been right up there too.  I feel that the entire week has been spent breaking up fights and keeping the children from doing things that are against the rules!  I don't think that I sat for more than 2 minutes at time all week without having to get up to deal with something!  Not that you get to spend much time sitting when caring for a large group of toddlers, but there usually are some moments of quiet time!  But not during a full moon!


I know that some of you are probably rolling your eyes at me, thinking that the "full moon effect" is just an old wives tale, but ask anyone who works with a large group of children and they will tell you that I am right, it really does make a difference!


So, even though the big, round full moon lighting up the dark night sky is often a beautiful sight to see, I really could live without it reeking havoc on my toddlers!  Thank goodness it is the weekend!  Hopefully everyone will be back to normal by Monday!

Surviving . . .

Well, it has been two weeks since I started back to work . . . how has it been you ask? Don't ask! Seriously, thought, it hasn't been that bad. I am completely and utterly exhausted! And feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off most of the time, but it is slowly getting better.

We are starting to get into a good morning routine. I am up at 5am (yuck!), Liam is up at 5:30am and Daddy is up sometime around then as well. We are all ready and out the door by 6am . . . unless Liam decides to have a poop, which he seems to do most days about 5 minutes before we are supposed to leave. And it is always the huge explosive type . . . fortunately, as long as we are gone by 6:15, we are good!

Work starts for me at 7:20, with Liam, a later shift would be much easier, but we only have one car and Henry works at 7, so we don't have a choice. Getting into a good routine at work is proving to be more difficult than getting into a routine of getting out of the house. I am working with Toddlers again and even though I have many years of toddler experience, I have been away from them for 3 years. In a lot of ways, it is like starting a brand new job! I forget how much these kids can do for themselves (compared to the babies that I worked with before my maternity leave) and am constantly stressing myself by trying to do things for them that I should be letting them do for themselves. I hate having to ask questions that someone who has work at the daycare for as long as I have (eight years) should know, but having been away for 8 months, so many things have changed!

One nice thing about being with the toddlers is that many of the kids that were babies with me when I was pregnant are "my kids" again in the toddler program. They have changed so much but it is amazing to see how they have grown up.

I do love working with toddlers and I know that once I get used to the noise that is created by a room full of 20 toddlers and get back into the toddler educator frame of mind, everything will be fine! Until then, I am going to muddle my way through it and hope for the best!

I am still undecided on what is busier, work or after work! Once we get home, Liam wants attention, usually a bottle and then his supper, I have to cook our supper, eat supper, give Liam a bath and get him ready for bed. There is little or not time to sit and relax until Liam is in bed for the night. Even then, there is always so much to do . . . make formula and lunches for the next day, clean up the kitchen . . . and the list goes on and on!

Eventually I will get used to it all . . . but for now, I am just surviving! (And wishing for that money tree to appear in my back yard.)