working with little lives

Anyone who knows anything about me knows how much I adore kids. For the first time (in my entire 5 years of being in the work force...) I have a job that truly brings me joy each day and even when I'm not having a good day, I smile and laugh anyway.

Adults are so annoying and set in their ways. You can't really tell them anything. We just don't wanna hear it. But kids... (sometimes are annoying too but that's not the point) ... will go along with the flow most of the time. They don't really care about being on time or what their hair looks like. They're so carefree and who else can say the highlight of your day is when you got the color popsicle that you really wanted? 

When I'm irritated they make me smile by seeing a squirrel run across the playground and almost in unison 14 kids run together screaming "squirrel!!" thinking it's gunna come when they call it. What I love most about working with kids is that I get to influence a kid's life. There is a huge difference in a childcare worker who's there because they need the money and a childcare worker who genuinely invests in a life. 

More than half of my k5 kids are probably classified as "problem kids" or the ones that teachers kinda hope they're not in their class. Sometimes they can be a little out of control but I love seeing their personality shine. I love seeing their preferences, what they get excited about, and what they're sensitive about, what's important to them. I feel like I know these kids' parents better than they think I do because your kids say so much about you. 

The worst part about my job is seeing the kids get hurt. I'm not talking about needing a bandaid or even spraining a wrist. I mean when their families fall apart and they get angry and just don't know how to react. They don't know that it's not really socially acceptable to tell people about your parents' problems. They don't know that it's not okay to be angry with everyone and everything because of your own problems so they just let it all out, sorta. It breaks my heart to see one of my kids who feels lost in his world because his foundation (his family) is crumbling. 

One child I worked with for many hours last semester and about once or twice per week now has really been a challenge. He's only three years old and yes he could be better behaved, but knows when people expect him to be bad and he does exactly what you expect him to do. I expect him to do what I tell him and with directions and sometimes redirection, he obeys! He has made so much progress since I started working with him about 5 months ago. It's such a joy to see him growing phyically, mentally, and linguistically. It kills me to hear people talk about this kid like he's some kind of devil though. I really just want to stand up to them and tell them to stop judging this kid. If something is messed up, they assume this kid did it. If someone is crying, of course it's his fault; he must have made the kid cry. This proves that you can learn something from everyone. From these people I've learned that your expectations of kids come true to a large extent... so expect them to be the best.

One of my girls is like me in that she loves doing creative things. When I was little my favorite aisle wasn't the toy aisle but the office supply section where there were so many pretty pens and brand new notebooks and neon highlighters. One day last week she came in with her unopened stationary set. When she opened it I was just as fascinated with it as she was so I kinda serious kinda jokingly said "You're gunna write me a letter now right?" She asked for a pen and tried to hide what she was doing but I knew she was really writing me a note on her cute stationary! I was super excited, ha. Here is the note she wrote me... complete with stamps and a sticker to seal it.

Sometimes I wish my name was easier to spell phonetically.

Lily-Claire at her brother's basketball game :)