Another reason I respect teachers…

I’ve come to realize this week that I’m not much of a playmate to my children. See, the Preschooler has been attending a local Vacation Bible School since Monday, leaving the Toddler and me to entertain ourselves. And, since the Toddler has no idea what to do with herself when her sister isn’t home, the pressure has been on for me to be fully engaged.

And, that’s just plain hard to do.

I think I’ve pinpointed the problem and it has to do with giftedness… or in this case, a lack there of. I’m pretty sure that if I were ever forced to work in a daycare or some organized childcare environment that I would best be suited for something like Marketing Director {if daycares have those}, or maybe Snack Coordinator {because I can serve graham crackers and juice with the best of them}, or maybe Director of Transportation, or Designer of the T-shirts and Flyers. What I know for sure is that the role of Lead Teacher would not be a good fit.

In spite of my keen awareness of my teaching limitations, I’ve spent a good bit of time playing in the floor and trying to give the Toddler some one-on-one attention these past few days. Yesterday, for example, we played with these for awhile…

I thought blocks would be a sure win with her because she loves to stack and put things together.  She takes her building projects quite seriously and expects me to do the same.

The project started out easy enough with her request that I “help” her build a tower…

Then, though, things took a turn for the more complex, and before I could finish our tower she was requesting that I make a door…

and, then a tunnel…

and, then an elevator…

and, then a bakery…

and, then a see-saw…

and, then steps.

I was actually feeling pretty good about my steps…

And, yet, this was her response when I announced their completion…

As if she were saying, “Are you kidding me? Is that really the best you can do?”

Well, you see, that is actually the best I can do because this mommy majored in communications and theology rather than in civil engineering.  Or, early childhood development.  Or, anything that might be the least bit helpful in this particular life stage.

That’s all I’ve got, sweet Toddler.  That’s all I’ve got.