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LAURA ON LIFE
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I got up this morning with a feeling of weariness thinking about one more task that I needed to do today that I didn't really want to do. Every week a different parent takes his/her turn helping to unload the preschoolers from their individual cars as they pull up to the door. This week was my turn. It was cold, damp and foggy out there. I just didn't want to deal with it.
I was envisioning disaster: There I am, trying to help a crying, whiny two-year old out of his parent's cars while his mother looks at me like I'm some kind of monster for daring to make him cry. The kids know they're not supposed to go anywhere with strangers because parents tell them that all the time. Well, I'm about as strange as they come. I know they're going to cry.
The first child I helped out had a worried look on his face. As it turned out, though, it wasn't because he was afraid of me. He got out of the car and looked around and said a little fearfully, "It's kinda fuzzy out here." I looked around and realized it was the fog he was concerned with. That made me smile and I remembered that two-year olds don't know about fog yet.
I told him, "That's called fog, and you wait and see. When the sun comes out later, the fog will disappear!"
He gave me a relieved smile and I felt like a hero.
One child was drinking a sippy-cup with chocolate milk in it…and he wasn't through with it yet. Did you ever try to get the many straps of a car seat around the hand of a child who won't let go of his sippy-cup? I thought about it for a minute and decided that other than ripping his little arms off, the only other thing I could do is ask him for a drink. I was taking a chance on this kid not being a generous sort. Most two-year olds are not. This one wasn't either, thank goodness. He looked at me suspiciously, snapped his hand way back and the sippy-cup went flying across to the other side of the car. While his arm was straight, I slipped it right through the strap. His mother applauded me.
Okay, this was getting fun. Next!
This girl was an adorable little chatterbox. I needed a step ladder just to reach the door handle of the huge SUV that her parents drove her to school in. I opened the door and this sweet little golden-haired magpie looked at me and announced, "I'm three!" And she sounded really happy about that.
I said, amused, "Really? I'm Laura!"
Not to be outdone she said, "But I'm three and I have a snackbox."
I looked at her snack box and said, "Yes, I see, and it has a princess on it that looks just like you."
She looked at it and considered that for just a split-second before she agreed, "Yes, I do!"
I finally got her disentangled from her car seat and set her on the ground. She looked so small and pink and angelic next to that humongous SUV that I had an immediate urge to pick her up to protect her from the monster truck. She was only about knee-high to a grasshopper. She could probably walk right under the truck without bending over. Then sanity returned and I figured that she would probably kick me in the gut if I tried to pick her up. Besides her mommy and daddy were sitting in that SUV. They wouldn't run her over.
So I took her little hand and led her to the door of the preschool while she chattered non-stop. We had just about reached the door when the sweet little angel turned and kissed my hand that she was holding. My jaw dropped and my eyes moistened.
Alright! That's it! Sign me up! When is the next time I get to do this car-duty thing again!?
Laura Snyder may be reached at lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
Or check her website www.lauraonlife.com for archived columns
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