A Muse to Amuse, A Thought to Think Upon

 Granted, the majority of my professional and personal "work" has been with children. I may be kinda partial. What I love about children- in general- is their endless curiosity, endless sense of wonder & endless energy. Oh to be able to bottle that up & take a drink or two!  Uninhibited children will dare to imagine and come up with the darndest things. They will blow you out of the water as the thoughts they are thinking turn into words. You will wonder where they heard a certain phrase or word and how their minds are like little sponges that grab up all they hear & see. The word for an 🍊 in Spanish is naranja and the word for 🕷️ in Spanish is aranja .. in my preschool class, our color for the day was orange. Naturally, at meal times we had oranges, carrots, orange colored peppers. I told the kids how much I loved oranges, how they were so good for you and had so many vitamins. I'd talk about oranges throughout the day. Little did I know that I was actually...

 I wrote my history of work with children and families (working with the littles) so you'd know where I'm coming from & why... I've been encouraged to share some thoughts on good parenting and appropriate child development. My mom says I make things simple. I feel like these are simple things yet sometimes so hard to do... I'll probably share more & please request a topic if I fail to address it.  This is for parents, grandparents, teachers, babysitter's, nannies, etc. *It is okay to say "NO" to a child. They need to learn the word and what it means. They need to know that there are consequences when they say yes to a no. Obviously we NEED the word. No, don't touch that stove, you will get burned. No, playing in the street is not okay because you are too little Traffic to see. This stuff about twisting all the nos into a yes. A do not run to we use walking feet or no yelling to let's use our inside voice is mostly ridiculous. No has it'...

 As you all know, I don't have children of my own, this was not a choice I made for me. My body has never been able - I am barren- those feelings are for another blog When I was 12 I took a "Red Cross Babysitting Course" & I began babysitting a severely disabled boy who lived next door. He was 14, but his abilities were that of a 3 or 4 year old. He taught me that each child learns differently and at their own pace. Seems I was always with kids. And I always loved them. I can't even tell you how many children came and went in my life so far but there's been a lot- I taught Sunday school, youth groups, family, friends kids... Then a TA, Teacher, Home VIsitor, Program Supervisor When I graduated high school, I began working with Migrant Head Start. The first season, I was a float so I got to work with all 3 age groups- infants toddlers and preschool. I loved it so much & the families got a kick out of me trying to learn Spanish so I could communicate with th...

 I was most recently diagnosed with a bad case of COVID, and PNUEMONIA and was in diastolic heart failure ALL @ once.  I was sent by ambulance to a hospital about 3& 1/2 hours away. The driver got lost& ended up on an unpaved road. It jiggled & twisted me up inside. I remember hurting and crying out Jesus please help us get there. Please help me. Please...   I don't know the rest but that it took us over 6 hours to arrive. Only to find I had to wait 36 hours in ER for a room my mom kept calling but I didn't have a location, I was in a corner makeshift room behind a curtain... I was an unknown. I don't have any recollection of those 2 days. I was moved to the COVID ward & have no recollection but I'm told I called my mom on one of those nights and said, Goodbye mama, I can't do this anymore. I love you. Goodbye & I hung up. I don't remember On the 5th day they asked me do you know your name? I did. Where are we? The hospital. Do you know your ...