Five Year Award

Tonight I attended the Staff Appreciation Dinner at the university I work for. They are extremely appreciative of their faculty and staff. Which is nice! It's nice to have an entire dinner dedicated especially to us! They honor the staff at certain milestones, too. This year will be my fifth year of employment. I received a charm from the University! It's really pretty, actually!

Now I just need to find a gold chain to go with it!

Today was a good day at school, for the most part. We did instruments this morning, which was fun and really LOUD! I don't really like to do instruments all that much. It's just too loud. And at two-years-old, I feel like they just have really sensitive ears. I don't want to hurt them. I think I just need to find a balance between what is too much and what is appropriate.

A lot of my job is finding that balance with a variety of things. I want my kids to have a wide range of experiences. However, should I stop their play if they're really interested in something just so that I can show them something new? I also stuggle with finding a balance of affection time with two of my kids. For some reason, whenever I sit on the floor to play with them, all they want to do is cuddle. I try to get them to play, but it's hard. I know they're away from their parents for sometimes 11 hours each day and they need that attention. But how much is enough? And how much is too much?

One part of my job that I absolutely love is to sit back and simply listen to the children play or "read" a book (they can't actually read yet, but they'll look at the pictures and make up a story). When an adult isn't in their immediate vacinity, it's amazing what children will say and do. I've seen children mimick how I read a story to the other children. They ask the same questions I do and they'll read it in the same way I have. It's adorable! And if I were sitting right there, they'd never do that. They'd rather I read it to them instead of them reading it to me. Yes, I do read them stories, but I also want them to practice those skills! They need to learn that they can do things for themselves. Even at two, they need to be empowered to do things on their own, and then praised for it when they do!