By Courtney Singer
Have you ever seen a child levitate?
Some children when filled with joy look like their feet aren’t even touching the ground when they walk.
So, how do you get a child to levitate?
Make them feel useful and needed and loved. Make them feel like they are a vital part of the daily success of the home.
I had a most wonderful boy in my day care who followed me wherever I went. He was my little duckling. That day was laundry day and the washing machine was in the basement of my mountain house; surprisingly sunny for being built halfway into the hillside.
I opened the child safety gate and Martin (name changed) scooted safely down the stairs on his belly, feet first, with me below him, just in case, as was our way. The washing machine had completed it’s cycle so Martin stood at the ready in front of the dryer. I began passing him the damp clothes. The clothes weren’t soaking wet because the very loud spin cycle had done it’s job well. And why were we downstairs right at its completion? Because Martin had been listening for the quiet, the absence of the spin cycle vibrations.
Martin held his arms out at the ready to receive the laundry and fill the dryer with what happened to be a load of baby blankets and stuffed animals, with some regular clothes mixed in. We named each item as I handed it to him: Blanket, Dog, Trousers, Penguin, Blanket, Blouse, Hippopotamus.
He launched each item into the dryer with glee, taking special care with the stuffed animals. Then it was his turn to slam the dryer door shut. Martin backed up a bit and gave the dryer door a good swing. Success! I lifted him up and he pushed the button to start the whomp-whomp of the dryer. And let me tell you he would be at the ready when he heard the absence of sound that indicated we should fetch the load upstairs.
Martin was required to belly slide down the stairs but enjoyed the privilege of walking up the stairs holding the railing, with me below him just in case. As we climbed the stairs together enjoying the rhythm of the whomp-whomp I do not believe that his feet ever touched a riser. Levitation: the purest expression of joy.
In my house here in Skye Canyon the laundry room is upstairs. I am looking forward to my current crop of children learning how to help with chores as they grow and blossom in my care. How will it look when they levitate going down the stairs?
Finding jobs for young children can be difficult in a busy home. Seeing Martin’s pride and joy made it worth the extra three to five minutes that it took for us to perform that simple chore together. The first chore that young children can practice is passing necessary objects to the adult. It begins in my day care with the ritual of the diaper change. I first hand the child the fresh diaper which the child holds while I am preparing the field. They hold onto the diaper while being cleaned and then when I say, “Diaper please”, the child hands me the diaper.
As the children get older they precede me to the diaper changing area and fetch out their own diapers from the child accessible drawer and on it goes,
“Diaper please,” during the diaper change;
“Spoon please,” while setting the table;
“Blanket please,” while making up the beds;
“Potato please,” while cooking the nutritious dinner – but that’s a subject for another article.
You might think that the title of this article isn’t true. That pre-teens and adolescents do NOT feel happy doing chores. They argue, they delay, they fuss. But underneath all of that bluster if you look very, very carefully you might just see the joy. Performing household chores is the first step in becoming a good citizen. Chores lead to tremendous success later in life. But that too is a subject for another article. “Pen please.”
Courtney Singer is a retired teacher with 38 years of experience who runs BLOOMIN’ CRADLE DAYCARE a Small In-home Daycare for Infants here in Skye Canyon. She has limited Enrollment with a Flexible Schedule; Special Dietary needs accommodated; Scent Free Hypo-Allergenic Home; CPR Trained. Call (702) 476-8624 for more information. This is a Landline and doesn’t accept text messages. Please call. Bloomin’ Cradle Daycare has no social media presence for the security of your family.