Gym class!!

Today was the first day of Ella's gym class. She was so excited -- she craves organized activities -- and was very sad that I would not let her bring Big Froggy along, "to show him to all of the kids". We'll get to show-and-tell soon enough, darling. It kills me how innate the pre-schoolness is in this kid.

When we first walked in, Ella was a touch quiet as she assessed the situation. There are 14 kids in the class and they all had at least one adult along. Once the teacher got them started with stretches and other little warm-ups, Ella was much more comfortable. She stretches often with Scott and I, loves to do her own version of yoga and, thanks to Jenni, has hopped like a frog already! (I have the pictures to prove it, but I promised they would never go public). We were soon dismissed to the gym so that the kids could participate in the obstacle course. This is when poor Benjamin and I realized that we were just along for the ride. After I got Benjamin settled in the stroller, I looked around... no Ella. We made our way into the gym and she was halfway through the course already! I was armed with the Baby Bjorn, just in case, but clearly Ben and I were not needed.

I think Ella checked in with me once the whole time. She was busy running, making friends and listening intently to the teacher. She stayed right at the teacher's side, looking for instruction, eager to please. So Benjamin and I sat by, watching the kids have a great time. The teacher really packed a ton of activities into that hour!

And... of course... there is always *that* kid in class. In this case, it was a little boy who was maybe 2 years old and arrived in the front seat of a car on his mother's lap. Brilliant. Just brilliant. This little guy was really just not ready for the class. Listening and following any sort of direction are not his fortes (which is why I would guess he was not made to ride in his carseat, not that it is an excuse). Hopefully, being around older kids who are better at listening will help him out and, forgive me, hopefully being around other parents will help his mother a bit. (You have to have known something like this was coming...) As Ben and I sat watching, this little guy came up and smacked me in the face (!)... and his mother told him to, "be careful!" Um, excuse me? How about, "I'm sorry"! He was just so overwhelmed and his mom, instead of letting him wander a bit and get his bearings, kept forcing him to sit on her lap as he yelled and squirmed. So, in his frustration, he hit me. Poor kid. (At some other time, I will get on my soapbox about parents not teaching their children manners and not addressing foul behavior. "He didn't mean it" does not really fly... in my humble opinion, there still needs to be an apology so the kid learns that it is not okay to hurt others -- even by accident. Ooops... off soapbox...)

I will be the first to admit that I am not a perfect parent, but I really think that I am pretty in tune with my kids most of the time. I may not agree with them or be able to cater to their whims, but I think I am usually pretty sure what those whims are. So my goal for the class is modeling for the mom... who is probably tapped out and exhausted and overwhelmed with this little guy. I have been there and it has really helped me to watch how other parents (particularly Scott, who has been blessed with more patience than I can ever dream of having) handle kids in difficult situations. It has made a world of difference to have a few Mommy Mentors to look to. And I guess I do have a doctorate in psychology, so that probably adds to my apparent need to jump in. Nothing frustrates me more than people not being able to communicate with one another and this mother and child are clearly not communicating well AT ALL.

So it looks like Ella and I will both be busy. She with learning and having fun and me with keeping Benjamin out of arm's reach of 13 toddlers (while wielding a hose of anti-bacterial something-or-other) and hopefully conducting a little incognito pro-bono parent training.