Arkansas Children Week Day Three – Wednesday

Whew.. we made it.

We are doing a lion hunt song this week and after each verse it says ” whew.. we made it ! ”

Well.. we did !

Before I start this blog I would like to say that none of today… none of it would have been possible without the parent teachers help.  Meiissa , Jessica, Katy and Dallas you were amazing  and helpful and wonderful teachers.

The weather was so unpredictable this morning that we almost cancelled.  But, there are two things you will learn about me if you dont know already.

1.  I always see the glass half full.  I am an eternal optimist.

2.  The thought that kids ” cant do that …” rarely crosses my mind.

First we had a yummy breakfast that most of the kids LOVED! It was a waffle sandwich. I baked the waffles so they were a tad crunchy. I mashed bananas and spread on the waffle and smeared nutella on the other waffle. Put them together and you have a chocolate /banana waffle sandwich.

After breakfast we stood and looked outside. If you can imagine 5 moms all looking at the weather APPS on their phone saying ” This one  says rain. ” ” This one says 0%”  Finally we decided to take our trip in stages and only commit to go as far as the park.  Off we went – 16 preschoolers , four moms and one teacher. ( Dallas is both but I am sure she is more proud to be a mommy ! ) As we walk we notice things like new flowers and numbers on mailboxes. We talk about street safety and stranger danger.  We smell new smells.  At one point we came to a large area of green grass and Junior said ” Isnt it beautiful Ms Debbie?” Yes, it is.  🙂

The kids played  at the park and then we partnered back up to head to the art department at JBU.  We were tired . From my house to the stop sign at the JBU soccer field is 1 mile but the kids did a great job.  We acknowledged that we were on a very long walk and I reminded them that healthy food is important and helps us tackle hard jobs like this and we went on.

Inside the art department was an amazing showcase of children’s book illustrators.  I wasnt sure what to expect. My friend Jeannie Abbot works in the art area at JBU and she had said it would be perfect for them . I trust her so off we went.  When we arrived there was art but what we didnt expect were the books that had those same illustrations in them.  It was wonderful to look around the room and see the mom- teachers sitting in the floor with kids and books in their laps.  What happened after that was magical.  The kids starting looking in the books and matching the printsin the book  to the illustrations on the wall.    It was one of the teacher moments that you go Ah….. this is perfect . .. and it was. My friend at JBU really bragged on how wonderful and engaged your little ones were .  YAY!

Next was a wonderful surprise.  Alina’s mom , Becky, works at JBU and invited us over for ice cream . It wasnt just any ice cream, they got to pick with kind they wanted, whether they wanted it in a cup or cone and then they even got sprinkles.  The kids enjoyed it and some of the mommies too.

Still watching the weather we decided to continue with our plan for the day and we headed back to the park for a picnic.  If you are familiar with JBU we went down the 101 steps at the back.  Risky.. yes. But mommies helped. Kids held. No one was hurt and we learned that we can do things that look hard as long as we are careful and we have safekeepers there to help us.  In playgrounds all over the US we have taken all the climbing equipment and things that require risk to play on completely out of the picture.  Yes, children do get hurt sometimes but helping them and holding their hand through hard stuff teaches confidence and ultimately  a very proud child emerges that is ready to conquer other fears.

We made it back to the park and enjoyed a healthy lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches , veggie chips, carrots  , apples and milk.

After lunch we made the short trek back home .  Would you believe they are all sound asleep now ?  Yes, they are worn out .  But in exchange for a very tired child’s little body we learned, we explored, we had fun and made great memories.  I would say it was a perfect day considering it started out with chances of thunderstorms !

There are over 100 pictures. I will put them on facebook !