As I’ve blogged about before, AM’s amazing ganenet’s tenure is over. (She had a baby boy at the beginning of July.) She was replaced by a woman who seems nice enough, but appears unable to wrap her head around What 4-Year-Olds Are Like.
(Relevant digression in 3…2…1)
Two weeks ago, I took the kids to a pool one hot afternoon. They loved it, of course. There was a large wading pool with a slide and, stupid me, I went into the big pool with them. Stupid because after that they ONLY wanted to be in the big pool. At the shallow end it is 1.1 meters deep, which means that Miss M, at 115 cm, won’t technically drown, she just constantly looks like she is in distress from all the flapping and splashing. But good that she can take care of herself, because AM clings to my neck like a baby monkey and blocks half my vision and the use of my left arm.
(/digression)
AM was very excited about the whole thing and naturally talked up his pool experience at gan, but did what little kids do. He mixed some facts (big pool and small pool) with some fiction (he told the ganenet on a Sunday that he had gone “yesterday,” and she knows that we are religious and so that could not have been accurate). I confirmed for her the truth vs. fiction parts.
But then today, over a week later, she brings it up AGAIN. He probably talked about it again and expressed the hope that he would get to go swimming soon. (I told them we’d go again later in the summer, on a day when “Abba can come too.”) She was acting like he was making up things out of whole cloth/losing his mind. I mean even if he were making things up (which he’s not, he’s just got the details wrong), isn’t that part of the charm of pre-schoolers? They take something barely based in fact and fill in the details to suit their fantasies? Or misinterpret things because, hey, they’re four. Better to do it while you’re adorable.
So, to sum up, I really miss his ganenet, who would sometimes confirm that yes/no we had been to the beach or yes/no we were going to Jerusalem or yes/no ate chocolate cake on Shabbat, but if the facts didn’t match the story would just smile and say, “What a cutie.”
Extra bonus example:
The kids are getting to know that fruit and vegetables are seasonal. Right now I’m not buying apples (unless I am desperate), pears, avocados, or bananas (they’ve been awful lately, and my SIL explained it’s because they are a winter fruit). Instead we have grapes or melon, peaches or plums.
This morning AM wanted to know where the Honey Nut Cheerios were. I said that we didn’t have any right now, but we had open boxes of Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios. “Oh,” he said, wisely, “Honey Cheerios are not in season.”
Not exactly…
OMG. I’m totally going to tell the kids cookies are not in season.
What? Can’t grownups make stuff up too?? Damn.
Will they take you seriously? Will they cry? Is it worth it?
(Can you tell I live with a joke/sarcasm KILLJOY? Sigh.)
The other day we let the neighbors across the street take the four year old for an hour to play with their daughters (aged 5 and up) while we were doing yard work. I’d asked the 4 year old, “Please stay in their front yard and hold (their 5 year old’s) hand while you cross the street.” Well, she remembered to hold the hand but as soon as they said “Let’s play in the back yard!” she was all “OKAY!”
We just moved two months ago – this is the first time she went to someone’s house where I don’t really know the people without us. (I’ve met them briefly, they are very nice, their daughters are extremely nice and well behaved but they aren’t friends or anything.)
When they brought her back, I was peppering her with questions, particularly about what was happening when we couldn’t see her. And that’s when I finally gave up and said, “well, you’re an unreliable narrator.”
I’ll never know what really went on back there. Sigh.
This is how I feel about Miss M’s school experience. On the one hand I really want to know, on the other hand, I kind of…don’t.
I can’t remember if a teacher actually said this to me or if it is just a meme, but you can sum up pre-school (maybe all of school) with this: “I promise to only believe half of what they tell me happens at home if you promise to only believe half of what they tell you happens at school.”
I love AM’s extrapolation about what’s in season.
I am always using the same quote as @Madeleine, but I know I got it from Julie (of Crowded Tub blog who is a regular commentor on Ask Moxie). She was a teacher I think of kinder? Anyway, that’s how I look at life with toddlers/pre-schoolers. They are indeed “unreliable narrator” (love that @B!).
This teacher must not have worked with 4 year olds very long if she doesn’t get that basic concept. Heck, my 3 yo regularly says the opposite of whatever I say just to be contrary, even when the evidence is staring her right in the face! (I’m nursing the Pookie vs. no you are NOT nursing the Pookie. Um, yes I am. And you are watching me do it!)
Apparently, in my home right now eggs, milk and bread are out of season. Kettle chips seem to be having a fine harvesting year, though.
“Kettle chips seem to be having a fine harvesting year, though.”
And…twitter and blog mind meld.
Oh, please no – go for as many Ana apples as you can find – they’re just coming into season, and they’re fabulous!
Yes, those are good–I’m talking about the sad cold storage Red Delicious and Granny Smiths you still see around.
Although I was at the shuk yesterday (Ramle) and there was so much summer fruit that won’t be around in 3 months! Figs, mangoes, plums, peaches, 3 kinds of grapes–I even saw fresh dates, but I save those for Rosh Hashana. The figs were crazy though, everyone had them. And they were all 12 NIS/kg….and they are GOOD.
Food has a season? I thought it all just came from the store… 😉 I can’t wait till my son (nearly 2) begins to learn these concepts and say cute things like your kids do.
That is hilarious. I’m also going to tell the kids chocolate is out of season.