I am a jungle gym.

I work with 12-24 month old children, and for those of you who are unsure of where that falls in the developmental process... my youngest are still crawling and drinking a bottle, my oldest can tell you their colors, walk, talk, and is just entering into the notorious "terrible 2's" phase. I must blog about my job because there are things that no one knows because none of my kids can talk. They are all under 18 months, so they say "no", "mine" and "hi" really well, that's about it. I also have only 5 children, which according to state guidelines for staff-child ratios means I don't need someone else in the room. Ha! If they only knew what went on, they might change their minds. 8 straight hours with 5 toddling one year olds would make anyone go a little crazy! I have started to talk, constantly. I talk, talk, talk. Some of it makes sense, most of it doesn't... the kids are finding their voices and love to make noises. Coopers latest is doing the indian thing yelling and covering and uncovering his mouth quickly. I mimic it and he laughs. Riley chatters really fast nonsensically, I mimic that too. It's a challenge to describe in the blog, sounds and noises, but this is what consumes so much of my day!

They crawl all over me all the time, play with my hair, zip up my zippers, and dig in my pockets. I have gotten to that point that I will hardly notice them until they start to hurt me, digging those tiny toes into my thigh or pinching under my arms while using me as an aid to stand. Sometimes I'll be sitting there enjoying some much-needed adult conversation with the person that stumbled into my room (not expecting to stay longer then 30 seconds "how was your weekend?" I ask anxiously... intellectual stimulation... desperate!) and I'll look down and not even realize that Zoe has been on my lap for a few minutes, where did she come from?? I am constantly clapping and "yahhing" when they do the simplest thing, like throwing away their paper towel, putting a block in the bucket or putting their cup on the counter. It's a big deal!! I want them to do it again, so I praise them unnecessarily making it into this HUGE deal!

Now, yesterday (I hope Cooper's mom never reads my blogs), but I'm pretty sure Cooper took his first steps with me!! I'm not even kidding you. We're not allowed to tell the parents when they do big milestones because we like them to enjoy it later that weekend, sometimes weeks later, when they're at home, playing with them on the floor and they start walking like 15 steps - they always think their child is a prodigy when in reality he's been practicing for weeks at school. So, I've been standing Cooper up and backing up a few scootches, holding out my arms, waiting for him to take that first step. Everyday, he just laughs and falls forward, not quite at that point when he's ready. And yesterday, he took 2 steps! Then 5 more, and he was really walking!! Wow. What a privilege to see a child walk for the first time, so fun to be the one to freak out and make it this huge deal!

I love my job, because I love kids. I struggle with the management, most of the people I work with - but the kids, they are my sun! Love you Cooper, Zoe, Riley, Olivia and Adreanne! I have so many more stories, but I'll stop myself.