Books, Girls, and Mr. Center of Attention

...by Deddy (aka, Seth)

I was grateful to have a few minutes to speak with Ms Karen this morning about John (grateful, too, that she seemed to be in good spirits with all that’s going on in her personal life). Since most mornings are go-go-go and she’s not there when we pick him up in the afternoons, it’s really great to get a glimpse into his typical day. I even told her how I sometimes feel like the daycare is a big black box he’s in for close to 10 hours a day, and since we can’t yet get his personal account of things, it’s hard to have the entire day summarized into a sheet he brings home with eating/sleeping/pottying/activities (along with various artistic creations – which I find totally awesome). We’d always like to know more, so she let me in on a couple of “secrets”…

As it turns out, John has developed quite the little personality and likes to have things his way. She said that he has really gained an interest in books (which we’ve also seen at home). At the daycare, they apparently have “regular books” that are available in the room all the time (which he uses a lot now) and they have “special books” which they are only allowed to look at prior to lunch (their morning cool-down), and after their nap. Well, if John doesn’t receive the “special book” that he prefers that day, he just stands up, walks over to the unlucky classmate that does have the book, and “trades”. The best part is that Miss Karen said when she sees him stand up, she says “John Fisher, where are you going?” to which he looks at her, mumbles something to justify his actions (incomprehensible to her of course), and takes the book he wants.

The conversation prompted reflection on my part, so I mentioned the night we sentenced him to a time-out in the corner of the kitchen when he was acting out. I told her we had, at that moment, concluded that he had sat in a time-out before. She said that he had, but only a handful of times for either pushing or hitting another child. Ah, verification… I probably shouldn’t have been laughing at this point, but I really couldn’t help it.

The other part of our conversation this morning was about John’s relationship with little Lily. Miss Karen revealed that “they’re just like brother and sister, those two, but they are great buddies.” She said that they hold hands when they walk around, yet they fight (mostly hitting) more with each other than any of the other classmates. I’m sure this is quite amusing because I’ve been around little Lily enough to know that she’s a little spitfire that holds her own. Miss Karen also said that Lily and John’s napping mats are located next to each other and that they have their own language they speak from behind their pacis; it normally includes “talking” and smiling and laughing (she said that they seem to understand each other). Eventually they both fall asleep while looking in each other’s direction. I can very vividly picture these moments and I can’t stop smiling.

Note: Traci would have probably been crying at this point if she’d have been there (I’m fairly certain she’ll cry while reading this).

These stories definitely provided a peek into the large black box I had described earlier to Miss Karen. Something I was searching for without even knowing it. She has to know how much we miss the little guy during the work week, so at first, I thought the stories were strictly for my benefit. However, her face couldn’t hide the pride she feels when talking about her kids or how much she loves them (which is more than I think Traci or I realize).

To top it all off, during my entire conversation with his teacher, John had started his Friday off by taking advantage of the Smith Sisters. It seems as natural as a favorite pastime. The Smith Sisters are two adorable little girls (approximately 4 and 5 years of age) who absolutely adore John – I’ve personally witnessed the fuss they make over him. The three of them had the gym to themselves this morning and the girls commenced to following John around, while both vying for his attention. It was quite the comedy. At first I thought he was oblivious to their distress, but I quickly became aware of the brief glances he would regularly cast behind him – he had to make sure they were still bothered with what he was doing and where he was going. He was smiling the entire time (he loves the attention– no doubt about it).

Great start to this last Friday in October…

Note to the above "crying predicition" - I was crying well before finishing paragraph 2, good thing I wasn't hearing/seeing this all first hand. I probably would have had to excuse myself :)