getting down with the little people

[gfrancie]

I spent this morning volunteering in my son's preschool class. My gig was preparing snack and helping out wherever I was needed. It was interesting to observe what goes on. Senor Onion spent a good portion of the time playing in the "kitchen" with some girls who were dressed up as Princesses. I know some of the Moms hesitate when it comes to their daughters love of pink and sparkly princess stuff. It should be noted that they weren't waiting around for some Prince and my son was actually "cooking" for them and serving them cake. I think sometimes the point is missed about dressing up in the pink princess clothes. The kids are drawn to them because they are sparkling and exciting. Yeah pink may not be someone's cup of tea (and that is hip) but I sometimes wonder if telling a kid that they should avoid it, it is setting up the kid for a whole host of other issues. (like hippie kids I knew growing up who were told, "no white sugar" and they all became junk food addicts)
But whatever. The kids were having a good time. There was much playing with play-dough, reading of books, playing with the sand box, doing art, playing with the cars, trucks and trains. Sometimes things would get really really wound up and as I said elsewhere, it was a bit like the flash back scene from the infamous party that Kenneth hosted on 30 Rock. Hanging out with the pre-school set is like going to a really wild party -minus the booze. You have all manner of drunks, people want to try out wild ideas they have and you sometimes have to talk someone down.

I had a nice conversation with one of the ladies who works in the office. She is goofy and awesome. We talked about canning and apple varieties.

I threw down at snack time. I didn't realize it until the parents made comments about how they don't normally have such lovely presentation for the food. I sliced carrots, apples and cucumbers and laid them out nice on trays. So there you go. I have made my rep as "that lady who has too much time on her hands." I just take the approach that if you want the kids to eat up, you should make it look appealing. The kids ate it up.

It is interesting to look over the names of the kids in the class. Most seem pretty sensible and down-right biblical at times.
Here is a list:

Alexander (one Senor Onion)
August
Augustus
Benjamin
Cassidy
Elijah
Keenan
Lila
Lucy
Lukas
Maddie
Maria
Matthew
Oskar
Samuel
Sway
Tova
Vincent

Yeah. Sway. That is her name. I am kind of curious to ask the parents, "What is the inspiration for that one?" Maybe they are Dead-head fans and named her after their preferred method of dancing.

One kid in the class... I suspect he is somewhere on the spectrum disorder. He is very smart and clever but it seems like a lot of the chaos overwhelms him. Plus he fixates hard on things. I kind of like him. He is hilarious. There is another kid who I refer to as "the feral child". He doesn't like to wear shoes, his hair is always in his face and looks as if he combed it with an egg-beater. (my favorite school of hair-dressing. I use it myself.) and he is always running off and making growling noises. His Father looked a wee bit hipstery and was wearing aviator sunglasses indoors. On a rainy day. But I even like the feral kid. One little boy I have a soft spot for. He is incredibly shy and doesn't want to do a lot of the loud activities. I told Mr. Jenner that if you said, "boo" to this child he would probably faint. There was creative movement/dance class today and he and Senor Onion were not keen to remove their shoes and participate. So I hung out with them. He was okay if he sat next to me and we watched what was going on. He does great art.

In a couple of weeks we have a field trip to the Ballard Locks. It will be... hilarious. Herding squirrels I tell you. Herding squirrels who were fed speed and cocoa-puffs.

I look forward to my next volunteering shift.

Comments

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

The Locks! I should like to return when it is not pouring rain, but even (or especially?) in the rain last time, the gardens were lovely. Also I love ships and was sad none were going through at the time.

I am really questioning Augustus as a choice. I even prefer Sway. I know a Tova and I like that one. There are a couple others that are on my own lists (Lila and Lukas-but-with-a-c, notably).

[madame-mage.livejournal.com]

This was an enjoyable post m'dear! sorta uh..takes me back to good ole Westmoreland preschool when the Boy was as young as Senor Onion.

GADS Maybe my kid is right, I can't remember what I ate this morning,but I can remember the past like it was yesterday..?

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

don't mind pink and sparkling if it's really the child's choice - but it annoys me that there is so much of it on display, which might subliminally suggest to the child that it's the right or the only choice.
I also worry about children wanting to look like or act like everyone else - but there isn't much to be done about that.
When I was small, the great thing was red shoes - I hated red
- but it was really difficult to get children's shoes in any other colour. I suspect that everyone was so tired of drabness after the war that red seemed very desirable

[scream4noreason.livejournal.com]

You will be known as the mom with the good food : )

[cutebutpsycho99.livejournal.com]

Sway? I wonder if it's a dancer's thing? Or maybe music? I have no idea.

But I figure I might make a vote for "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN" for a name one of these days. I think you know why.

And the volunteering sounds like fun.Sometimes I get a kick out of seeing all the wee ones together. The naked display of emotion always makes me grin.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I second "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN"! Mr. Jenner and I were having fun with that yesterday.

[jess-faraday.livejournal.com]

Awww little kids are great, aren't they?

[artemis-moon.livejournal.com]

Our early school trips to the locks always used to frighten me. The kids would race down towards the water and all of the grownups were way behind. I know there are fences, but sure enough, I would speed ahead and see one kid who just HAD to climb up the fence to get a better look. There was much grabbing onto jean-loops in those days.

[bliss-street.livejournal.com]

My "Sway" theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4dYb9ApUFo

(Although her parents probably aren't as old as I am.)

[epiphany.livejournal.com]

That was my theory too.

I like Sway. Best name on the list for my money.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Hee.
I should ask them.

[bliss-street.livejournal.com]

Yeah, just casually mention that Sticky Fingers is your favorite Stones album and see how they react. ;)

[emily-swank.livejournal.com]

August AND Augustus? I didn't even know of this disturbing trend. Those are large names for little boys to carry.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

One is called Augie. It suits his wee size.

[needlediva.livejournal.com]

ohmygoodness. his parents could call him "augie my son my son."
oldest cartoon reference in the entire world.