Dress me up

 

I get paid to play!

Of course I do some sweeping up after meals and some wiping down of tables, but mostly my job is to play with the children and I love it.

We swing on a big blue swing and pretend it is our rocket ship, or submarine and the adventures we have are epic! One of our guys is an expert asteroid destroyer and another fights sharks and octopuses, depending on where we are, of course.

They dress me up, comb my hair, paint my face with pretend make-up while wearing beautiful ball gowns and big green rubber boots. The fashion in our class is very eclectic.

We build tracks and trains and play with our sensory boxes filled with dough for hours. 

In between I get to read books. Sometimes on the comfy couch, sometimes right in the middle of the room. The informality of our group gives us the freedom to be who we are, whether it is doing puzzles, or playing with markers and glue. 

I kiss boo boos, teach people how to apologize for accidentally hurting each other, hold them in my lap, or let them lead me by the hand into the land of three year olds.

I am a surrogate mama and I take my job very seriously. Sometimes there are as many as seven of us with eleven children. Each one of us totally dedicated to the proposition that we are raising the next generation and we want to them to be prepared.

If your mama leaves you with someone while she goes to work, I hope you are with people like us.