Lessons Learned

 I always enjoy when Sunday comes around. I might not always enjoy getting out of bed but I am thankful afterwards. For the past 7 years, I have taught 2 years olds in my church nursery. The very first set I had are turning 8 or 9 this year. I love working with them and teaching them about the Bible and how Jesus loves them. People think that 2's is the WORST age you could work with because of the "terrible 2's" stage of life, but, in the all the years I have been with them, they must have a switch that turns off when they come into my room. Yes, we have our fair share of temper tantrums but doesn't every age?

I can definitely say I have had my fair share of laughs in all these years. I remember when I first started out, we were still in our old nursery. A very cramped room with 20 two year olds. Little boys are so much fun at this age. They, well some, are learning to potty train or attempting to train. This particular little one wanted to go all by himself. In attempting to do it all by himself he sprayed me, the floor, himself, the walls, and a classmate being nosy. A fun mess to clean but quite a laugh.  Lesson Learned: Make sure they know what they are doing when it's time to potty.

Back in the old building, we also had an escapee. If there was a way out of the room, he could find it. Our room had a door that exited the building. It was so hard to open I didn't think it could be opened. I was WRONG! He opened it and was caught before he ran. He also figured out that our bathroom conjoined with another room. Needless to say, he was brought back to us many a times. Our classroom door was blocked by a childproof gate. Yep, you guessed it, He managed to figure out that he needed to jump on the foot petal to open the gate. Lesson Learned: Do not underestimate a two year old.

This past weekend was well interesting. We had a class of 15 as usually. No big deal. Right? WRONG! Okay, not a big deal until it came to the issue of the potty. For the most part, the children in my class can do it for themselves. I just peek in to make sure they aren't playing in the toilet water or unrolling the toilet paper. I think every child either went to the bathroom or was changed at least once. Many times they think they have to go so they try and nothing happens. This time, I though that was the case. Except the child had pooped and some how it ended up in the trashcan which resulted in many minutes of hand washing (their FAVORITE part). Lesson Learned: Make sure it stays in the toilet.

Two year olds are precious. They have an unconditional love that melts your heart. For many, their favorite part of class is snack time. If you gave them a choice between cheerios and Goldfish. Gold fish would win because all the cheerios are on the floor. We have some that love snack time more than others. Like they drink their lemonade then move onto their neighbors. Or scavenge the floor for goldfish that have been dropped. Or even those that sneak in when a friend gets up for something. Lesson Learned: Goldfish is a delicacy to a two year old.

This entry could go on and on with all the lessons I have learn. Our room is full of surprises from week to week. It is truly a blessing to work with the twos. To see one enter throwing a fit and leave with a smile on their face is a joy.