ltlbird, you are my hero

[sigerson]

I never thought temping would be like this.

Bouncing from receptionist job to receptionist job, yes. And that's the majority of it. Thankfully, on the week before Labor Day, calls are few and far between. Funny, everyone seems to be "out of the office" or "at an off-site meeting".

But yesterday, I got a very different temp job.

I worked at a daycare.

Just for an afternoon, in order to provide the state-appointed number of adults in a room at any one time. And most of it was naptime. I was in the infant and toddler room.

What have I learned from this?

1. I don't know what to do with a kid. I don't know how to get them to do something, or to stop doing something. I don't know how to stop crying, or get them to go to sleep, or bring a shy child into a group. I have zero knowledge of this. None. Absolute bupkis. I don't even know how to hold one properly.

2. I like kids. I can't deal with them, but I like them. I loved babbling with one of them, then realizing I could understand what he was saying. I like making them grin or smile or look fascinated. I like watching them try things out, and I like seeing what they do know (we hold on to the rope when we walk) and what they don't (if I move fast with the rope, the other person holding it will fall).

Okay, don't freak out. I have no plans of immanent spawnage. Nor even plans in the next five years. But I think this was the first time I didn't run screaming from the idea of having a kid.

Which may be the scariest lesson of the day.

Worldcon update once I'm through with my games...

Comments

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I have no plans of immanent spawnage. Nor even plans in the next five years. But I think this was the first time I didn't run screaming from the idea of having a kid.

Hee!

I know exactly what you mean, and that's scary, too. *g*

All fears of actual spawnage aside, I am deeply curious to meet our friends' putative future children. We're all so interesting and strange that I have to imagine we'll produce a bunch of wacky, geektastic, intellectual little people.

[stealthmuffin.livejournal.com]

Nah. All our kids will rebel against their parents and thus be boring, closed-minded, thuggish louts who don't get "all that wizardy crap."

Then they'll turn fifteen.

[shellaby.livejournal.com]

I used to be my mom's right hand when she was raising my younger siblings. I knew a lot about children. But then that all stopped when my youngest brother turned 6 or something and it's been many many years since I've dealt extensively with kids. Then on Tuesday, we had dinner with a cool techie woman (friend of my roomie S.) She had a 2 year old son who developed a strong "crush" for me within a minute of meeting me. He wouldn't leave me alone all night - at first it was really hard to deal with him, I couldn't focus on what the adults were talking about, I didn't know how to make him happy enough to go away, I didn't know what in the world was so great about me to him. I was rather uncomfortable with him. After an hour of this I realized I could just go ahead and talk to the adults while at the same time picking him up and flipping him upside and shaking him a little, and he just went crazy with joy. He loved it! Go figure.

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

Tee hee. I hardly think I qualify as a hero, but it is nice to know one's work is appreciated. There are loads of people who are not great with kids at first meeting. I am lucky, because kids seem to sense something in me that helps them to open up as well as listen, but for most people dealing with kids takes practice.

Glad to hear you are at least open to the possibility of spawning someday. :) With all the morons out there reproducing, intelligent, fun, wonderful people like you can really improve the gene pool. There's nothing wrong with deciding not to have kids, of course, but I would love to see the awesome traits of my friends passed on. And like kassrachel, I am curious about how some of the offspring would turn out.

[2h2o.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of a project I once undertook to describe the results of various improbable pairings from a different group of friends. In that spirit, what would the following be like?

1. haak0n+wavyarms
2. osirusbrisbane+stealthmuffin
3. sen_no_ongaku+eeblet
4. thomascantor+ltlbird
5. sigerson+stealthmuffin

I'm sure you'll have more ideas....

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

Hee. By "results" do you mean offspring or just crazy relationship stuff? Assuming the former, I hypothesize the following:

1. = a young expert on the history of ballpark organ music
2. = (not sure about this one, but I'll go with) the kid who brings burrito flavored muffins to the bake sale
3. = a kid who plays like Tori Amos, only naked
4. = I'm frankly at a loss on this one - certainly a child with pale skin and glasses...
5. = a Pokemon addict who likes to write about pants

[minyan.livejournal.com]

This summer I spent a week with my aunt and uncle in the outer banks and got to see my eldest cousins' kids for the first time in about 6 years. The're now 8 and 10. Talking with the younger one is easy - you sit and she talks. It was harder getting to know the elder one. And they live in Mexico, so I wanted to make the most of the chance.
It was also exhausting, since they're both in better shape than I am and the simplest way to make they hapy is to play basketball/tennis/soccer, jump into shoulder-high waves, or dance whatever dance they've just choreographed. They spent several hours one morning giving my brother and me "lessons" in percussion on jenga blocks and then adding moves to the rhythms. They're amazing people. And they kept 5 adults (my brother and sister and two cousins and me) running all week. It gave me an even greater respect for people kids trust. And for my parents:-j