At least the moms got a day off

Filled in Friday for a church Mom's Day Out program. Walked in the door. Got the scoop on the day. Braced for the craziness.


Checked kids in. Checked them out. Rocked babies. Opened juice boxes. Said "don't throw sand!" "use kind words!" and "share!" more times than I care to remember. Played with puzzles. Refereed rivalries. Comforted criers. Put lunch boxes in the fridge. Took them out. Led kids where they were supposed to go. And back. Supervised. Laughed. Fed. Talked. Came home ready to crash.


Still want kids? Yes. Just not 20 at once, thanks.

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Photos by me.

Was it something I said?

You know those Cingular commercials where a conversation goes awry because of a dropped call? (I think this one is my favorite.) All of the sudden there's silence on the other line, causing the speaker to wonder what he/she said wrong.


That was me last week after I posted this and didn't hear anything from the Playful Childhood crew. I became increasingly sure they had misunderstood my response to their "Protect Our Kids from Preschool" post. And were offended. And possibly really mad at me.

As it turns out, they weren't mad. They were planning to respond. And they did. Colene says:

"I am all in favor of high quality, short term care of children to give the mother a break."

So maybe we see eye to eye on this after all. Maybe we all have a common enemy: preschools that aren't doing things in the best interest of the children.


Look what happens when you talk things out! Good thing I learned that in preschool. ;)


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Photos: 1) By the Hubs. 2) By cafemama. CCL.

Is preschool the enemy?

Well, this weekend I threw a party and went to church and ate at Chipotle with my parents and now I'm sick. I don't know if being sick has to do with any of those other things, but it does have to do with why I'm home reading blogs in the middle of the day.


Also over the weekend, Playful Childhood posted "Protect Our Kids from Preschool," which referenced a Wall Street Journal article and studies suggesting preschool may not be beneficial for children.

(If you want to read it, I'll wait. No, really, it's ok. It's short, and I wanted a snack break anyway.)


So, as I was saying...while I respect the opinion of that post, I am not sure I totally agree with it. Is it preschool itself that is the problem? Or is the type of preschool? What about children who went to preschool for 6 hours a week? Or 9? Were the results the same with fewer hours? Perhaps it is the preschools (or the parents) that are pushing kids that are the real problem.


Not all preschools do this. Some focus on making learning fun with creative, age-appropriate activities. Children not only learn colors, shapes, etc., they learn how to share, how to sit (for short periods of time) and listen, and how to play nicely with others. Sometimes preschool is the only place a child has the opportunity to finger paint or use scissors or play in the sand.

Is it possible to do these things at home? Yes. Does every parent? No.

I don't believe that we should have universal preschool. But I think we should have preschool as an option. When preschool is done right, I believe it complements - rather than counteracts - a playful childhood.