Day 9

Last Monday I was at PSP for a couple hours again and I got to experience bringing the kids outside to the playground! I came in and was immediately put with the infants because there were 6 of them and they were all awake. There were in between 10 and 12 toddlers, except they did not need help yet because most of them were still sleeping from nap time. There was a brand new baby on the infant side that day and she was only six weeks old. She had a full head of straight, dark hair and big brown, curious eyes. I held her for a short while, then she started to fuss so one of the other instructors gave me her bottle. I sat there and fed her for about 15 minutes. She would suck from the bottle, but then her eyes would start to drift off. Slowly but surely, the little angel finally fell asleep.
I passed her off to another instructor for a while because one of the other little boys was lying on the blanket by himself not really doing anything. I held onto him for a while and listened as the toddlers were heading out the door to go to the playground in front of the building. Looking out the window, we could see the toddlers and the two instructors play on the jungle gym. The instructors looked a little overwhelmed, so I set up the baby I was holding in a place where he could reach his toys without too much effort and made my way outside to help them.
The kids were in full force that day. They were running, climbing, and jumping all over the place outside. Kids were taking turns sliding down the slides and crawling through the tubes. There were only a few instances where the kids would hit one another or bite so that they could move their friends out of the way. Some of the kids wanted to be picked up so that they could be held for a short while, but most of them were playing.
I noticed a couple things this time that I felt are worth mentioning. First of all, in regards to holding the children, it is crazy how much trust they have in us. They know we are adults, but they really know nothing else about us. What is amazing is how if the kids want to be held, they will walk up to just about any of us and hold up their arms (obviously indicating to pick them up). They really do not care who it is, but some of them just want to be picked up and held. I think in this daycare setting they feel safe, though.
The parents usually pick up the kids around 4/4:30pm. We were all assuming that the parents get done with work or whatever they are doing and then come and pick up the kids. However, one thing myself and one of the other instructors talked about was how some parents are just hanging around outside while their child is still in daycare waiting to get picked up. The parents that do this are just hanging around, doing nothing. I mean, wouldn't you want to be spending time with your kid as soon as you are able after a long time away from them while you were at work? I do not know what it is like to be a mom, but I think that I would want to pick them up from daycare as soon as I could. I can't really judge the parents because maybe they just need a break, but I feel like standing outside is not a very productive use of your time. These are just some thoughts I have had about parents and the PSP community in relation to the infants/toddlers.