I hope everyone is having an incredible 2020! The sky was so beautiful this week! So many interesting clouds, breathtaking sunshine, and vibrant blues! Life is so incredible, full of vibrancy, light, and love.
This week has been full of blessings! One of the little Toucans in my class made our class a homemade valentine; it was really cute. I could tell he worked really hard on it (he's only 3). He really is a sweetheart and full of so much love. I'm really blessed that he's in my class. Another Toucan looked at me during class and announced, "I love that you are my Toucan friend!" The kiddos in the Toucan class are so sweet and loving; I love seeing their smiles every day.
One of the little girls in after care has decided that we will play a daily game; she decided that I was supposed to try to take her stuffed animal (this week it's been a variety of dog Beanie Babies) only for her to thwart me. She will all my name across whatever space we're in, insisting that I come and get her animal. She will then tell me I can't have it only for her to tell me to try and get it a second later. It continues on and on with her laughing at me. I started repeatedly asking if I can have her dog, "Can I have your dog? Can I have your dog now? What about now? Can I have it now? What about now? Now???" In the midst of my asking she spontaneously began smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand. She'd then shout, "NO!!" Immediately after that she would tell me to go away only to then insist I come back and try to take her animal. Kids are so interesting; they can always get me to laugh.
Thursday morning I helped with carpool drop off; one of the Chipmunk friends chose me; he had been walking in with another teacher, left her suddenly, and then took my hand like it was nothing. I had just dropped off another student to class and turned around to find him grabbing my hand. The teacher that had been walking him had become more than a bit worried (he has the tendency to take off and elope). The Chipmunk friend was real calm about the whole thing and simply wanted me to walk him to class (he just chose not to say anything and just do it). Honestly, I was a bit surprised that he chose me. I greet him whenever I see him and try to have fun with him when there's an opportunity; to keep him safe, though, I need to do A LOT of redirecting with him. He's so impulsive and gets caught up in the moment. He doesn't typically like to listen, either, as he's all caught up in his version of fun. With all the redirection I had thought that he might not be all that fond of me, but this experience proved otherwise. It's a reminder that everything I do holds significance and can be extremely meaningful for the kiddos I work with. I'm really grateful for this reminder.
The kiddos in before care always keep things interesting. One of the kindergartners drew me a picture (she said it was a puffball flower). The 1st grade girls approached the coloring table with a look on their faces Monday morning. First thing out of their mouths, “It’s not Schnucks because there are no Schnucks workers here. NOW TELL YOUR MOM!” They then proceeded to say that they were going on a class field trip today to Schnucks to go see my dad and that they would be getting cellphones later today so they could specifically text my mom and dad. They then said that they were my twin younger sisters. My mom then chose to respond to them, remarking, “If they go to Des Peres, Emily would give them the tour.” (Emily is my sister, and it’s a thing at Des Peres Schnucks to give tours to classes—she is one of the people who gives the tours). When hearing my mom’s response, they immediately declared, “NO! We want Mr. David!!” My mom: he doesn’t do tours. This remark earned another disgusted, offended face. It was then followed up with: “I don’t care! I’m going to Schnucks, and I’m going to stay there forever with my dad, David!” My mom: What about when he leaves? The girls: “We’ll just see him the next morning. We’ll just eat all the food and candy and play with toys!” These conversations are always interesting and amusing. I was wondering how it would progress when my coworkers asked for me to go with the group going outside; the girls ALWAYS stay inside and color. 5 minutes after I went outside, they came running up to me, screaming, “WE CAME OUTSIDE JUST TO BE WITH YOU!!!” They then proceeded to bump into me and try to bother me by poking me and such.
The rest of the conversation this week proceeded as follows:
Me: Nathan says, “Hi.” Hannah also says, “Hi.”
Mom: Hi.
Me: The coloring table wants to know if you’re nice.
Mom: XD Well, I could say I’m mean.
Hannah: Is Jessica nice?
Mom: Usually.
Hannah: Is Mr. David nice? Is Emily nice? Is the whole family nice?
Mom: Depends on the day.
Hannah: Is Target nice? Are all stores nice?
Mom: No, all the stores are not nice.
Hannah: You’re not nice.
Mom: XD I’m sure you have said that about me at one time or another.
Hannah: What?? I’ve never said that about you!
Mom: *laughs*
Hannah: Jessica is the weirdest kid in the world.
Mom: You are a kid apparently.
Hannah: No.
Mom: Well, weird isn’t bad.
Hannah: Weird is bad.
Mom: Nope.
Hannah: Yep.
Me: Hannah really likes texting you.
Mom: I can tell.
Hannah: I don’t like to >:(
Mom: Riiiiiiiight.
Hannah: Can ducks fly?
Mom: When they feel like it.
Hannah: Take a picture of yourself.
Mom: *sends a picture of her when she saw the Stanley Cup*
Hannah: NO! Send one of you NOW!
Mom: That was only a few months ago and one of my favorites.
Me: She wants you to take one of you at work.
Mom: That’s no fun.
Me: I told Hannah that you’ll be on vacation next week and wouldn’t be available for texts. She said she would text dad instead. I told her that he’ll be on the cruise with you. She said that she’ll text Emily. I told her that she’ll be asleep. She said she’d text my brothers. I told her that they’d be asleep, too. She then said that she’d text Emily and wake her up.
Mom: Emily will be up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Drew will be up if the weather is bad, and Adam is usually up at 6, which would be 5 our time.
Me: Hannah says that she went to Des Peres Schnucks yesterday for a field trip and saw Emily. She says she’s going to Springfield to see landscaping and to Colorado to see Adam and the Davinroys.
Mom: Well, that will be fun. Emily wasn’t there yesterday, though.
Me: That’s what I told her.
Mom: But I did send a picture of her.
Me: She’s seen pictures from my phone. She insists she met Emily yesterday, though. She wants to see her rainbow hair from summer.
Mom: *sends picture* If you zoom in you can sorta see it.
Me: *sends picture of Hannah’s drawing*
Mom: Is she trying to make the guys you always are drawing? Does he have a name?
Me: I dunno. Hannah didn’t say.
Mom: Ok.
Hannah: Rosie.
Mom: *sends rose emoji*
Hannah: *sends 81 rose emojis*
Mom: Does Rosie like snow?
Hannah: Nonononononononononononononono.
Me: She says she broke into our house last night and took our cat.
Mom: Sorry, she can’t have our cat. *sends picture from desktop calendar that reads: Don’t Furget to Be Awesome*
Hannah: Forget to be awesome.
Mom: NO NO NO
Hannah: YES YES YES
Mom: *sends picture from desktop calendar that reads: Don’t Give Up When Things Get Ruff*
Hannah: Yes give up when things get ruff.
Mom: Not good.
Hannah: Yes good.
Mom: Nah.
Hannah: Yes. Did you know the universe is made of hamburger? A giant hamburger is heading right towards us! I saw it in the news!
Mom: Did you know it is cloudy with a chance of meatballs?
Hannah: Yes.
Mom: Good.
Hannah: I know it’s good.
Mom: Meatballs?
Hannah: Spaghetti.
Mom: Maybe.
Hannah: Yes.
Friday morning I was drawing at the coloring table in before care; a 2nd grader came over and proclaimed that I was a celebrity. When I inquired about what made me a celebrity, he gave me a look that said my question was crazy and that the answer was obvious; he declared, "Your drawings, of course!!" I know I have practiced my drawing skills quite a bit, but I had never considered myself a celebrity. I suppose I should have, considering how kids have been requesting drawings from me for years now. There's so much love in the world; I love that I can recognize it in all these little moments.
I received some new books, and I'm excited to begin reading them. There are so many resources out there. I finished reading The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. I started reading May Cause Miracles: A 40-Day Guidebook of Subtle Shifts for Radical Change and Unlimited Happiness. With all the books I've been reading recently, I feel like my thinking and perspective have been changing. I'm looking forward to what I can learn from all my new books.
I was super grateful for the unexpected early release we received on Wednesday due to the approaching winter weather. I love my jobs, but I had been feeling a bit tired. I used the unexpected time up to relax, enjoy myself, and replenish my energy. I sipped on yummy hot chocolate while watching Miraculous and Cells at Work. I really enjoyed the new episodes of Miraculous (looking forward to see how the story progresses next. Wondering a bit about who the Hawk Moth in the future is--maybe Felix? It might have something to do with the ring he took. Who knows, but I'm definitely intrigued). I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Cells at Work (I mean, I figured it would have something to do with the human body, but I wasn't sure exactly what). It was humorous, cute, and a bit gory at times all at once. I'm not upset with it (not 100% happy about the gore, but it makes sense considering the jobs of the cells--I can respect and accept that). The cedar pollen episode was pretty hilarious. I never would have thought about personifying cells and creating a world for them that (somewhat) mirrors our own--props to the creators! It's a fun premise (and is at least somewhat educational). I love being able to enjoy and immerse myself in these worlds animators create! There's so many to choose from; I can't wait to see how Ascendance of a Bookworm progresses (I've fallen in love with its world and characters).
Saturday afternoon I worked on creating art for a toucan goodie bag for my co-teacher. I then spent Saturday night babysitting; on the way there the moon was so luminous and huge (it was awe-inspiring, and it blew the kiddos mind when I pointed it out to them). I arrived to their home with two eager faces peering out the window. As I approached the front door, they broke out into ecstatic smiles, shouting, "Miss Jessica!!" They then spotted the two gift bags I carried, eyes lighting up. "Who are those for?" they inquired. I retorted, "Oh, these? These are for me, obviously. I'm going to take them home and open them. It'll be lots of fun." They gave me an unconvinced look, insisting, "No, they aren't!" I relented, replying, "Oh, alright. I suppose you can have them." Wearing huge grins, they shouted, "Thank you!!!" They tore into the gifts with glee, exclaiming, "Oh my--!!" Their dad came into the room, taking stock of the carnage and gifts, "Is it your birthdays or something??" He shook his head and then turned to me, "You're setting the bar really high." The girl declared, "You're the betterest!!" I inquired, "Like better than the best??" She immediately answered, "Yes!! You are my favorite babysitter!!" Their dad noted, "She's our only babysitter. Well, aside from Miss Molly, but that's only if Miss Jessica is busy; we always book her in advance, though." The girl proclaimed, "Miss Molly can be the SIDEKICK. We don't need to talk about her. How did you know that this is what I've ALWAYS wanted????" Her brother chimed in, "I got so many cool cards! Zacian and Zamazenta! And a textured Mewtwo EX! Thank you!!" Later they were looking at a video on their iPad; I snatched the kitty snow cone plush I gave her, launched it in the air, and announced, "Kitty attack!!" It smacked her square in the face, startling her. She then erupted in laughter. I remarked, "It's a good thing I didn't throw an actual kitty. There would be claws and anger... It would be a very hairy situation." She shook her head at me. Her brother started talking to me regularly, about all sorts of things. He threw me a sudden curve ball, though. He had been talking to me in English and threw two Japanese words at the end (he knows that I've been working on learning Japanese). It took me a good minute to process what he actually said to me. He said, "Taberu Kudamono" (taberu: to eat, kudamono: fruit). Once I registered that he had spoken Japanese since I hadn't expected it, my mind had heard "taberu kodomo" (kodomo: children). I replied, "I hope not." He thought it was hilarious that I thought he said he was going to eat children. With a mischievous grin plastered across his face, he then proceeded to try to say he cooks children. He was a bit off on pronunciation (it came across as something like rice-saru), so I didn't comprehend what he was trying to say right away. When he told me he was saying to cook, it clicked. "You mean ryourisuru. Again, I hope not." He nearly died from laughter. We made some valentines, watched Playing with Fire, and goofed around. The boy has started to play the viola, and he played the Harry Potter theme song for me. The girl invited me to watch her ice skating lessons that will be starting soon. When their parents got back from Trivia Night, she wouldn't stop thanking me for all that I do, for taking such good care of their kids, and for being so kind and generous. Super grateful I can share laughs, joy, and love with these kiddos and create awesome memories with them. This family is so sweet. I love being able to hang out, create, and play with them.
The universe is full of love, joy, and abundance. What this week has revealed to me is that I am a celebrity, the Betterest Babysitter, and a super hero (I mean, if Miss Molly is supposedly the sidekick, that would make me a super hero, right?). From all the books I've been reading and resources I've acquired one message I keep receiving is that you get what you give; what you send out into the world comes back to you. It's important to focus on the current moment right NOW, as it is all that you ever have (technically, you may have experienced things in the past and may experience things in the future, but all you will ever experience is this moment right here and right now--your life is a stream of current NOW moments). When you immerse yourself in the current now and look for the joy and love in that current moment, wonderful, magical things happen. This week with babysitting and working with all these kiddos at my jobs have driven that message home. I've had so much fun when I was focused on the current experience I was having with them. I wasn't concerned with what past experiences I've had, what COULD happen in the future, things that I "have" to or "should" do, etc. I felt to light and at peace, and I received so much love in return. I recommend trying it out for yourself; it might seem impossible, scary, irresponsible, etc., but it is most definitely worth it. At the end of the day we all want to feel joy and love; at the end of the day it's what we all deserve. Live your life purposefully with your presence; do what truly makes you happy, whatever that is (travel, cooking, art, dancing, watching anime, making music, creating videos, reading, cleaning, hiking, organizing, hanging out with friends, teaching, helping others, volunteering, whatever it is). Make the most of each moment; you won't regret it. Stay awesome, everyone! Remember, you are love ♥
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