Encouraging Ignorance - One Shoe at a Time

So I'm sitting in the living room on a Saturday morning, chillin' with a little Spectacular Spiderman on the tube, when this Sketchers commercial comes on.

Now, as a preschool teacher, I appreciate the parents who send their little tykes to school in velcro shoes. It definitely makes my days easier to not be bent down tying a shoe every time I turn around. But it seems to me that these commercials are targeted toward children who are old enough to tie their own shoelaces. What do you think?

Some things should go without saying...

And "toddlers should not smoke pot" is one of them. Further evidence to support my "people are morons" theory came to my attention last night. Evidently this 17 year old boy and his 18 year old friend thought it would be a hoot to get his 2 and 5 year old nephews to smoke some pot and catch the milestone moment on home video. What a fantastic idea. The video was found by police searching the home on a burglary warrant.

mean old Ms Amber

How do children do it? One day they are absolute angels. Then they act like the spawn of Satan incarnate. All in the course of a couple of days. I don't get it.

Today was one of those days that left me questioning my calling...as well as my sanity (which those who know me personally already deem questionable). I spent my whole day in one power struggle after another...with preschoolers. How pathetic is that?

Don't get me wrong. I don't nitpick just to be mean. I'm not a dictator. I'm just trying to teach the kids that actions have consequences. So when I say "If you play at naptime, you cannot play with your show and tell this afternoon," I have to be willing to follow through. If I don't, I'm not teaching them that they are responsible for their choices and the consequences of those choices. Not only that, but what I am teaching by failing to follow through is that I don't mean what I say (which has disastrous consequences for my authority in the classroom).

But honestly, I think I punish myself just as much (if not more) than the kids when I follow through. Because if I follow through with enforcing the consequences I've laid out, I have to deal with the tantrums they throw. And they do throw them. And when I'm standing in the middle of my classroom with 2 four year olds screaming and crying and thrashing on the floor while the other 10 kids decide to start getting out of control because they can see that Ms Amber has her hands full and can't possibly deal with everything that's going on all at once, it's hard for me to look at the rationale of what I'm really trying to accomplish. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, is it such a terrible thing that they played on their mats the entire 2 hours of naptime? Would it really be so horrible for me to just give in and let them play with their stupid little dinosaurs and cars?

See, they're only 4. They don't realize that I'm doing this because I care about them. I want them to learn to be responsible, functional members of society sooner, rather than later. To them, I'm just mean old Ms Amber, who won't let them do the one simple little thing that would make them the happiest little creatures on the planet. The only thing I can do is to hope that someday years down the road, probably when they are dealing with preschoolers themselves, that I had their best interests at heart, and was only trying my best to teach them valuable life lessons that, hopefully, they are glad to have learned.

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice: What Are Little Girls REALLY Made Of?

You've seen them at church with their frilly little dresses and their ribbons in their hair. You've seen them in the stores looking so sweet you could just eat them up. You've seen them at home playing innocently with their little dolls.

Now let me show you what you don't see. Little girls at school. I recently read a blog that said that kindergarten is the new junior high. Sorry to contradict you, BBM, but I must. For, you see, PRESCHOOL is the true new junior high. And I blame Disney.

I've seen full-out slap-fests over whose boyfriend a certain little boy was (while the boy played obliviously in the blocks and cars with his little boy friends). I cannot count the number of times I've heard the infamous "I'm not your friend anymore" uttered over the most miniscule "offenses." And heaven forbid that there be an uneven number of girls in a class, because little Suzie can't possibly be friends with Janie and Beth at the same time.

Little girls are sneaky. And they will flat-out lie to your face, all the while with that sweeter than honey smile.

Kathy Bates phrased it best in The Waterboy. Little girls are the devil.

Parenting, Part the Second

This will be much shorter than my previous rant on this subject (I think).

Again, I must start off with a disclaimer:

I do not have children. I am well aware that this makes all of my views and opinions on parenting null and void to those who do have children, despite my degree in Child and Family Studies and my experience as a preschool teacher. That said, this is my blog and I have a right to voice my opinion on any matter that I see fit. So here it is.

I'm back on movies. And here is my opinion today. I love children as much as the next preschool teacher, but your two year old does not belong in the movie theater. Especially not during the showing of a movie that is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence (I saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby today). Find a baby sitter for the two or three hours on a Sunday afternoon, or wait until the movie comes out on video. Please. Children younger than 5 or 6 (and I think I'm pushing the limits going that young) do not have the attention span or the physical capacity to be still and quiet through an entire movie. And they have absolutely no business watching any movie with Will Ferrell in it, either.

I understand that parents are humans too, and as such do have the need on occassion to get out and enjoy a movie that isn't animated or incredibly hokey. But can you really enjoy the movie if you are constantly wrestling your child back into his seat?

Parenting

***Disclaimer***
I do not have children. I am well aware that this makes all of my views and opinions on parenting null and void to those who do have children, despite my degree in Child and Family Studies and my experience as a preschool teacher. That said, this is my blog and I have a right to voice my opinion on any matter that I see fit. So here it is.

I see a disturbing lack of actual "parenting" in our society. The most recent example being at the movies this weekend. I went to see Pirates of the Carribean with my husband, and due to other events throughout the day, we went to the 9:30p.m. showing in our small town. I'm sorry, but it is the personal opinion of this particular blogger that 9:30 is a little late (even on a Saturday night) for a 6 year old to be at the movies - especially when the movie is 2.5 hours long (that puts you leaving the theater at midnight, in case you were having a little trouble with the math). Also, this particular movie had some rather frightening looking characters and creatures. I am curious to know how many of the parents who took their young children to that late show (and it was more than just one 6 year old present in this theater) actually knew anything at all about the movie other than "it's a Disney movie about pirates." I hate to break it to you, people, but the Disney label does not automatically make a movie safe. Take 5 minutes to do a little research on a movie instead of piling in the car right away because little Timmy just HAS to see this movie.

That's another problem our society has. Someone wants something, so they get it. You are a parent. It is your responsibility to see that your child gets the things that he/she NEEDS. That does not mean that you have to jump in your car and drive to the nearest Toys-R-Us every time your child sees a toy advertised on television that they just HAVE to have. It is not in anyone's best interest to get everything that they want all the time. We grow up being treated like little gods and we expect that our lives will always be like that. News flash - you will not always get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. And neither will your child. Why should you teach them by your example that they should expect something that you know is not going to happen? That's just stupid. Yes, I said the 's' word.

Here's another example of the lack of parenting in the world today. Day care. Hear me out, now. I'm not bashing day care. It pays the bills around here (the smaller ones, at least). But I don't understand why your child has to be at our day care from 6am to 6pm every day of every week of every month when you don't have to be at work until 8 or 9, or you get off work at 3 or 4, or - and this is the one that gets me the most - you stay at home all day! Now I can understand stay-at-home parents who can afford it sending their children to a center like ours (we do have a preschool program in the mornings), but not for 12 hours every day when you know preschool is only in the mornings. I can understand having to work long hours just to make ends meet. But I know that's not the case for every family in our day care. I can understand needing to run a few errands before work or after work on occassion. But just because we are open from 6am to 6pm does not mean your child HAS to be there that long. Your children are spectacular little people! But too many parents don't spend enough time with their children to find that out for themselves. And that's just sad.

Discipline. Nobody seems to know how to do it these days. Saying "No, don't do that" to a 5 year old in the same voice that you would use to ask your 8 month old "are you ready for some mashed potatoes?" is not an effective means of behavior modification. There is only so much I, as a child care provider, am allowed to do in the way of discipline. Redirect behavior, time out, a trip to the office, that's pretty much it. If none of that works to correct your child's behavior in my classroom, I'm left with no choice but to depend on you as the parent to help resolve the issue. Step up and be a dsiciplinary figure. Please. Children need that. It helps them to realize that they are accountable for their actions. Help your child learn that lesson while they are young. Don't make them figure it out for themselves as adults. That's why our prisons are overcrowded.

Ok, I'm done for now. Just needed to put that out there.