“Look Out Ladies”

Last year in one of my 3 year old classes I had a little boy that was one of a kind. He was always making me and the other teacher smile or even laugh by what he said. Like most little 3 year old boys when given the choice to do their favorite dancing way he took off running at full speed. The choice was given on this day and so without hesitation of he rocketed. For one reason or another all the girls were grouped together on a area of the dance floor doing twirls or skips or whatever they were doing I don’t remember anymore. This little boys was running a large circle around the room as he came to the group of girls he yelled, “Look out ladies!!!” Me and the other teach looked at each other to confirm that we truly saw what just took place. We tried our best not to laugh too loud. We could not hold back our smiles for the rest of class and told his mother about it and we all laughed together again. Still to this day when I think of this story I can not help but smile at my self or even laugh. Thinking about this story I did not think it was a Mommy Moment, however he brought me laughter and joy; that is a wonderful moment. One the funnest things about this little boy and his words is I think there they will be very true as he grows up… “Look out Ladies”

Ouch Kisses!

My nephews enjoy kisses when they get hurt. At times even a blown kiss would help them with their minor bumps and scrapes.  After a fall, or some other such mishaps, they would look to one of the adults in the room and one of us would go and give a kiss or blow one depending on the circumstances. 95% of the time they would bounce back up and keep playing. On this one occasion I was playing on the floor with my second nephew he suddenly stopped what he was doing and said “Ouch!” and pointed to his knee. I kissed it better and looked to him for confirmation that all was better now. I did not see what had caused the pain yet kisses are cheap and I was willing to give him one for his comfort. Upon my inspection his little eyes did not show his usual assurance instead he pointed to his other knee saying “Ouch”, I kissed the other knee at which point he pointed to his elbow saying “Ouch”, again, once again I kissed where he pointed. He continued pointing to almost every part of his body saying “Ouch”, followed by a kiss from me. We repeated this until he was done. Having completed what he needed he went on playing as before. I am not exactly sure what was taking place in this sweet little boys head, yet if I had to guess I would say that at that moment for some  reason or another he needed more reassurance of me or from me that I loved him or maybe he just need that affectionate physical touch. That we all needed at times, even as adults.  

Time Stands Still

There was a short time a few years back that I was running a small family preschool/daycare. In a small family business so moms could do a little work to supplement their income. I would watch and teach their children for a few hours. A child of any age was welcome. I truly enjoyed this time with this family and their children. There was a baby in the preschool with me and she was getting very tired, I knew it was time to see if she would go down for a nap. Having settled the other children down, they did not need my full attention I turn to this baby wrapping her in her blanket with her pacifier. I started to rocker her while walking through the room after some time she had indeed fallen asleep.  The other children were quietly playing together and as I looked down as the small child in my arms time stood still and feelings of peace and joy coming to me. My thoughts began to turn to my future and I realized that this was a moment that I would love to have with my own future family. One of those idyllic moments when all is well, a heaven on earth moment. At the time how ever I did not recognize it for what it was, I merely saw it as a sad thing that this was not really my own family around me. A sadness and questions about why it was that I was still single, when I had all the right desires. To say the least it was a bittersweet moment, yet for a long time I focused only on the bitter.

Looking back on it now I understand the purpose to this moment, much better. This was one of my earliest Mommy Moments.  A gift from my Father in Heaven to experience one of those powerful joy filled fleeting moments I guess other mothers feel at times. Moments when you are rewarded as a mother for all the hard work that you put into the raising of children all feels perfect - complete and happy - even able to glimpse the eternities and the promised blessings for just a moment.  Then all goes back to normal, yet we must hold on to those fleeting moments and treasure them in our hearts and ponder on them. Like that of Mary of old, in the Bible,”But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” Luke 2:19.

Innocence

Over the summer I taught a little girl that gave me a little surprise. Just a reminder that children will always be there to teach and surprise us. Even when you think we've got them all figured out.  With that introduction this is what took place.

She came to class dressed with a shirt and skirt, I did not give this much thought until we went into circle time. The technique part of class where we work on fine motor skills and  strength. For a good portion on this we are sitting on the floor. After some time I noticed that she was not following along, just sitting there with her legs tightly closed. I went and talked to her and soon discovered that she was worried about showing her panties to the class which I thought was mature of her at her age; most girls 3 or 4 years don’t even think about this. So after class I talked to her parents about putting little shorts or leggings on her so she would feel comfortable doing the class. The next week she came into class and she was wearing pants under her skirt so I thought all was well. However  circle time came again and the same thing took place she sat there with her legs closely pressed together. Once again I went and quietly talked to her about what she was feeling. She still felt uncomfortable, so I showed her the other  girls in the class and how they were wearing something under their skirts and how they were all covered up and still could dance and have fun. This did the trick she then was able to participate and she really started to enjoy herself. Through her comfort and enjoyment her abilities in dance grew over the remainder of the classes.

In His Daddy’s Shoes

I was visiting a dear friend of mine the other day she has a little boy almost 2 years old. While I was there he went over to the entry way where all the shoes had been placed upon entrance. This little boy proceeded to step into his Daddy’s shoes, which in and of itself look very cute and got some sighs out of myself and his Mom. However he didn’t stop here, he squatted down and with great concentration he began to play with the laces on the shoes. He had such a face full of concentration and determination to learn. It simply made my heart brim with pride for how smart this little boy is and going to be.  Yeah I had only  met him that day yet having the close relationship with my friend I guess helped me feel proud for her and the way she was raising her son. I am grateful for that chance.

For children playing is there way of learning this little boy was such a perfect example he was playing with his Daddy’s shoes yet you could literally see the knowledge he was learning moving into his head.