"I Smell Poop!"

I don't have the greatest sense of smell and since I'm a lot taller than my kids, I don't always catch the smell of soiled diaper....

But the children are always faithful to rat each other out.

So today for the umteenth time this year, Jimmy hollered "I smell poop!" and pointed to the sweet little Russian boy who is about a year and half younger than he is. I walked over to Joseph and pulled back the elastic on the back of his little pants. Sure enough, there was a whole bunch of Hershey Kisses in there.

"Come one Joseph." I said and took one sturdy little hand while he held a toy truck in the other and we walked to the bathroom together. As I started helping in the bathroom we have our usual potty conversation that goes something like this:

Joseph: "Ewwwww! Yuck!"
Me: "Eww, yuck is right Joseph."
Joseph: "I do goot?"
Me: "You do goot. You just need to poop in the potty now, okay?"
Joseph: "Goot."
Me: "Goot."

And then I get a bear hug around my neck as I'm trying to clean him up.

Them Russians.

Still love 'em.

They know more than we think they do

"I had a dream about flowers, and in every flower, there was a light."

Her words touched me deeply and that phrase has lingered in my head for days now and she is only four years old...

Imagine that.

Circles

Today at circle time I was asking the children what they had done over the weekend. One child said, "I went to the zoo!" Another, "I played with my mom!" And "I played with my toys." Then I asked another little boy who tends to be somewhat naughty at school and asked him what he did over the weekend. "I got a spanking." He said forlornly as he looked at the ground. And that's what he remembered from his weekend.

:(

From Russia with Love

This spring, I have a new student in my classroom. He is from Russia and so are his parents. They have very typical Russian names and have very stereotypical Russian accents; even their little one does.

I, being the ever witty accent connoisseur was able to pick up rather quickly on their accent and since the little one has a good sense of humor, I talk to him in a Russian and he thinks it's hilarious.

Since I cannot convey the accent over computer you will just have to take my word for it. If Joseph is being mischievous and running around the classroom I say,

"Joseph! Yoo stup rrrunning naow or Motha RRRussia vill come get yoo!"

He bursts out laughing heartily like this, "Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho!" I'm not joking. That's how he laughs, it's a riot. I've never heard anybody really laugh like that except for men dressed up as a santa clause and even then it's all a show.

I find that I quite enjoy talking like that with him. I wish I could do it all day. I was in the sandbox with him today. I was on my knees and he was sitting next to me, leaning into my waste when I said, "Joseph, do I sound like your mother when I talk like that? He smiled a sly smile and said in his deep little Russian voice, "Yeassss."

You gotta love them Russians.

I sure do.

Little Mouths Talk Big

On the Playground:

Child walks over to me and says in passing. "I've got medicine in my muscles." "Really? How is that?" I ask. "Well you see, I went to the doctor and they put two shots in this arm (points to his arm) and then they put one shot in this arm (points to his other arm) and now I have medicine in my muscles. So don't touch it."

Playing in the block area; a conversation between three boys:

Boy 1: "Hey Puppy-Puppy!"
Boy 2: "I'm not a puppy."
Boy 3: "He's not a puppy. He's a real boy."
Boy 1: "Hey Real Boy! Hey Real Boy!"

Boy and Girls

Boy looks at girl adoringly and asks "Will you be my wife?"
Girl looks at him and wrinkles up her face and says, "Your what?! What's that?" and walks off....


Big Talk, from Little Mouths (3 year old's to be exact)...

Child points to the artwork on the wall of the classroom and says to the other children, "This is called advertising."

Child is playing House with two other children and they cannot decide who is going to do what so the girl says, "We need to improvise."

Lunch Table:

"Oh No!" She said. "I spilled milk all over my brand new Target pants!"

Child points to the expensive ring on my finger that a friend bought for me from Spain and asks, "Is that your ring?" "Why yes it is, do you like it?" I asked expectantly. "No." She says flatly. "It's ugly."

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Teacher Colleen: "Here, let me help you..."
Child: "No, let me help myself."

Child: "I like a baby in my tummy-mommy, so I can have a tiny little baby."
Teacher Colleen: "Me too." I said. "Me too."

On the Playground....
He came over to me and kissed me on the butt. "You're the nicest girl in the whole world." He said adoringly. I think he would have kissed me on the face, by my butt was eye level and I guess that was good enough...

At Christmas:
Child: "Hey Teachur!" She exclaimed. "I pooped like a candy-cane!"

While putting on coats:
One little girl to another: "God died and He's in our hearts now."

While doing Art:
Child to Child: "Where do you live?"
Response: "In my house, next to grass."

The World According to Preschoolers

First things first at school today: "Teacher Colleen, what is that?" A little boy asks as he points to the floor. I look down. There is a brown smear across the floor and a brown round ball next to the end of the smear. "Uh, that looks like a poop! Ew!" I said. "Ew." He said. "Who did this? " I asked. "That must have fallen out of someone's pants." I said. Turns out it feel out of a diaper. Yay for preschool. :/

Playground Conversations: 3yr old boy: "Teacher Colleen, I play games with my Daddy's iPhone!" Me: "Oh that's fun. I don't have one of those. I don't know how to use it." 3yr. old boy: (Very matter of fact) "You really need an iPhone." .....Precocious little kid.

Cry Babies: There was one little boy who cried and wailed for an hour straight today. Finally one little girl said with very wide and shocked eyes: "Teacher Colleeeen! He's gonna cry his face off!!" (My thought? I hope he does.)

The Mauling

This morning I was mauled by six three year olds. It started when I was at home getting dressed for school. I have these long dangly silver earrings that I decided to wear to work and once I got to school every kid it the class wanted to touch them, but really, they don't end up touching them they end up touching all of my face and hair and glasses...
"Why you wear glasses?"
"I can never see you eyes!"
"You chewing gum?"
"I wanna see it!"
"Why you chewing gum?"
"What color is it?"
"Why you got them earrings?"
"Who gave them to you?"
"I wanna touch."

I was sitting in the "van" that we made out of large blocks with one child in my lap and the barrage happened so fast that I couldn't get up in time. By the time they were done I looked like I either just woke up or was, well, mauled by children as it were.

Then earlier i was sitting on the couch with the "I Love You Girl" when she grabbed my face in her hands and said "I love you!" and planted a kiss right on my lips. All I could do was think about the germs she was giving me but what was I gonna do? Nothing.

Yep. Mauled by children. It a good thing I like my job, because at the end of the day, I leave just as much a mess as they do.

Reaching the Heart of a Child

I've been at my new job for one month. I can't believe it's only been that long, because it feels longer than that. It's been great. Exhausting, but great. I'm so happy with where the Lord has placed me. I never would have pegged myself as a preschool teacher, but I dare say I almost feel like I was made to do this and doing so feels like putting on a comfortable glove. It just fits.

My interactions with the children are immediate and the bond that develops between myself as caregiver/teacher with children at this age is very strong for them. They are so little, only three or four and they hunger for love, attention and affection all day. Some are more needy than others and that's okay too.

There is one little girl there who I have to admit is so darling. She's a scrappy little thing. Not too skinny, not to fat. She starts out everyday looking clean and presentable but by the end of the day, she looks like a tornado. Her hair is a mess and her clothes are dirty. She has taken quite a shining to me and I must confess the feelings are mutual.

Anyway, we hadn't seen each other because the H1N1 was flying around our school and she was sick and then I was sick so I hadn't seen her in over a week.

So today, when I walked back into class and saw her she came barreling over to me at full force and threw her arms around me and for the first time ever she said to me "I love you." "Come and read to me." She said. So I walked over to the couch and sat down with her and began to read. She then interrupted me. "Hug me!" She demanded. So I hugged her. The whole time I read she made sure she was touching me. As I turned the pages she kept her little hand upon my hand. It was adorable.

Today we read books. Did arts and crafts. Did circle time and I read to them about a spider. We sang "The Mighty Duke of York". We had lunch where one little girl insisted that the core of my apple was in fact a pickle and we had a nap. (Well, not me, they did.) That was a typical first half of my morning.

Not bad.

Now if you'll excuse me, I hear these cookies calling my name....

Conversations with Children

There is one particular child on the playground that often comes looking for hugs and informs me of conversational facts:

"Teacher, This is called a sweatshirt. It sweats me." He told me that the other day. (It sure does.)

Also, I was told this:

"You smell like a popsicle!" Uh, I'm pretty sure that's a good thing?

Lastly, I was told this:

"Teacher! He pooped in his pants and I can smell it!" Said one little girl pointing to the little boy playing next to her who has frequent accidents. "Did you poop in your pants?" I asked him. He nodded shyly. (Oh brother.)

At Lunchtime: "My face is hungry." Says one little girl to the other.

Little Whippersnappers

"Don't forget to remind me that I love you." That's what I was told today by one of my male students while he raised his eyebrows at me the whole time he said it. I wonder if he'll be as coy when I finding him doing something naughty out on the playground?

Mommies and Daddies and Babies Oh My!

Today I had the privilege of spending the morning shadowing a teacher at a preschool. We were out on the playground and one little boy seemed to take a liking to me. He was a chubby little kid who will for sure make an amazing linebacker someday.

We were hanging out by the slide when he informed me, "Babies come out of Mommies tummy's."
"Yeeesss." I said cautiously. "That's right, they do."
"Babies come out of Mommies tummy's." He said again in a very matter of fact sort of way.
"Yes, that's right." I replied.
"Well, are you a Mommy?" He asked thoughtfully.
"No, I'm not a Mommy." I said.
"How come you're not a Mommy?" He asked.
"Because I don't have a Daddy." Is what I wanted to say, but this is a public preschool, and a very liberal state where anything goes. So I decided to tell him... "Because, I'm just not."

He seemed satisfied with that.

(Phew.)