Somewhere between being a full time nanny to 4 kids and going to college, I lost the ability to relate to children. I've been called in our past 3 wards to work with kids ages 2-4 for almost 2 years now, and I've realized that if they can talk, listen, and otherwise somewhat coherently communicate with me, I have NO idea how to interact with them.
Here's what I'm getting at. A little conversation between my 4 year olds and me during today's lesson:
Kiddo #1: "Why are they putting dirt on that man?" (we were watching a movie about Joseph Smith and they were burying his older brother.)
Me: "He got really sick and died. We are all going to die someday."
Kiddo #1: ...blank stare...
Kiddo #2: looks at me with a sad face and quietly says, "I don't want to die!"
Kiddo #1: sad face, "I don't want to die either!"
Me: look at Zacho with a desperate face
Zacho: "It's alright guys! You don't have to worry about that for a LOOOONG time! Just don't even think about it!" and looks at me like, "seriously, Chrissy??"
May not seem like much, but add that to my horribly awkward doll playing voice, my complete inability to decipher 'kid talk' (I think I understand about 10 percent of what my toddler nieces and nephews are saying), and this other time in class when one of the kids straight stopped me in the middle of my talk and said "when is church over?", I think you see my point.
Here's what I'm getting at. A little conversation between my 4 year olds and me during today's lesson:
Kiddo #1: "Why are they putting dirt on that man?" (we were watching a movie about Joseph Smith and they were burying his older brother.)
Me: "He got really sick and died. We are all going to die someday."
Kiddo #1: ...blank stare...
Kiddo #2: looks at me with a sad face and quietly says, "I don't want to die!"
Kiddo #1: sad face, "I don't want to die either!"
Me: look at Zacho with a desperate face
Zacho: "It's alright guys! You don't have to worry about that for a LOOOONG time! Just don't even think about it!" and looks at me like, "seriously, Chrissy??"
May not seem like much, but add that to my horribly awkward doll playing voice, my complete inability to decipher 'kid talk' (I think I understand about 10 percent of what my toddler nieces and nephews are saying), and this other time in class when one of the kids straight stopped me in the middle of my talk and said "when is church over?", I think you see my point.
9 comments:
Haha! Don't worry, you only understand the nonsense talk your own kids are saying because you have been working with them on certain things and know what they are probably trying to say but that is only half the time. The other half no one knows :-). And I cannot play dolls or stuffed animals either. I don't have the imagination for it. That is why you have more than one child, so they can do it together!
If I had a nickel for every time a kid said "is this book over yet?" I could retire at thirty whatever.
Was it an animated video or real life? Kids do relate to animated better at that age. Not sure why. Practice, maybe.
Seriously. Of course, they get tired of coloring sometimes, too. But which manual are you using? Those CDs with the printable activities saved me. Always good for some time and it at least sent the kid home with a little something about the lesson. Even if it got tossed as soon as they entered the house.
Oh, Chrissy, this is great. You make me smile. :)
First of all, YOU'RE BACK!!! Yay! Second of all, no matter how maternal or non-maternal your instincts might seem right now, somehow things will magically kick into gear when you have your own kids. I remember when I first gave birth to Rush, I was terrified to leave the hospital because how could I be trusted with this tiny helpless baby??!! And now, I constantly amaze myself at how I know exactly what Rushton wants with or without any toddler communication from him. It will come, my dear. It will come.
I totally cracked up when I read this. I can totally picture the non-verbal exchange between you and Zach. Hilarious. I was terrible with kids until I had my own, and even now I'm not real great with kids that aren't related to me. But it's true that there's some kind of magic that comes with your own kids that somehow makes them understandable and adorable (well, most of the time, anyway). :)
I remember teaching sunbeams and how akward it was at times... and one of those sunbeams was Aaron! In the end I found that if the lesson was longer than 5 minutes I lost them any way, so I just brought toddler music and we danced for the rest of the 45 minutes. Greg and Steve have some fun interactive songs that help the time pass!
It's okay Chrissylove! I don't even understand my own kid sometimes. And I know JL and I say stuff all the time that has Walter going, "Say Whaaaat?!"
Just rely on their gnat-like attention spans and redirect their attention elsewhere if you feel like you're in a pickle. It works....most of the time.
lol! This made me laugh! I'm sure you'll be an amazing mom when you have your kiddos someday. This is why we get kids as little babies that don't talk or do much of anything besides eat and sleep, so we can ease into each of their phases! :)
lol, that is hecka funny. It probably doesnt matter if you understnad them or not, because most likely they think they understand you but them dont. I wish you were teaching my mason. he turns four on sat.
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