I have never considered myself a pack rat, but I have a closet full of memories from the early days when I directed Little Folks Discovery Center.  Among my treasures is a handmade giraffe that measured children along its neck when they came in the front door at the beginning of school. I have lesson plans that were mimeographed––some of you will remember those!  I have flannel stories like The Three Little Pigs and Humpty Dumpty that were lovingly crafted by creative, hardworking, and dedicated teachers. I have a couple dried up dandelion necklaces that were presented to me by loving children.  I have some of the earliest issues of the magazine that I couldn’t have lived without, Child Care Information Exchange.  I have a quilted banner with crayoned drawings on small pieces of fabric––a masterpiece created by children.  I have thousands (yes, thousands) of pictures.  Preschoolers visiting fire stations, school-agers participating in our drama classes,  kindergarten graduation, and parties and festivals galore that seemed to go on endlessly throughout the year.  And there are many more memories stored away in closets all around my office and my house.  I fear I will never be able to downsize!

I admit to cowering in corners and climbing on tables when tiny four legged creatures are anywhere near.  I’m terrified of mice and gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs, and can you believe it even bunnies!  Yes, it’s a full-fledged phobia.  I had truly rather see a bear come into my house (that has happened and I’ll blog about it another time) than a teeny tiny you know what.

When I was teaching (especially in preschool-type settings) it could be a problem if any of the aforementioned creatures were out and about for any reason.  When I visited schools and orphanages in Russia I had many amazing experiences.  One involved a little boy who walked up to me and said something with the most engaging smile while pointing to his pocket.  I leaned in, of course, to see what he was trying to show me.  Low and behold it was his treasure, a little pet mouse he kept in his pocket.  I don’t remember the rest; let’s just hope I didn’t come off as a weird lady he will always associate with Americans.  I think I know where this phobia originated (it involves my two rascal brothers) but my challenge has been to never convey or pass my fear on to children in my care.  By the way, I did come a long way with my own children when their Aunt Grace presented them with two Peruvian Guinea Pigs.  That is until my son casually placed one of them (this act was innocent of malice on his part) on my chest as I lounged on the couch reading a book.  I wasn’t expecting it and let’s just say I’ve never been able to make peace with the little creatures no matter how hard I’ve tried.  My question is, do any of you have phobias you try to keep from the little ones?

I just returned from the NAEYC conference in Washington, DC.  I planned to do a “Live From NAEYC Conference” blog, but that didn’t happen!  All of you who have attended the conference  know how much there is to do and even with adrenalin running high, it’s always impossible to check off everything on my “to do” list, but I sure gave it my best try!

This was the first time I’ve attended when I wasn’t presenting, exhibiting, promoting my book, receiving validator training––you get the picture.  I was excited, but I didn’t know what to expect.  My husband, Dick was with me and believe me, I think he met and talked with more people than I did!

The exhibit hall was at times so crowded I could hardly find room to walk as I baby-stepped along trying to balance my NAEYC bag, my purse, coat and the program with carefully highlighted numbers of the booths I just had to visit!  What great organizations were represented!  I love visiting the huge mega companies, but it’s also such fun to discover the new kids on the block who offer  exciting, safe products for kids and families.  The ones that make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  And I love learning about the non-profits and what they’re planning on unveiling in the future.

But the people.  I always meet the nicest people!  People who have been getting Parent Pages for twenty years, people who have never heard of us.  Presenters who are (knees knocking) presenting for the first time and the presenters like Bev Bos, Alice Honig, Mimi Chenfeld Brodskey, and Marian Wright Edelman who inspire year after year!

It’s hard to think of the conference without thinking of the Washington, DC framework.  What a beautiful city.  And celebrating the city where our first African American family now resides––Wow!

I just finished an article about children’s art and how it’s important to let children freely express themselves.  I don’t know about you, but when it comes to art I’ve made a few blunders with my own children and with children I’ve taught. It’s just way too easy to judge art by saying something like, “Don’t you want to add just a tiny bit of yellow or red to your picture?”  You’re subtle, but what you mean is, “Yikes, your picture is black, totally black.  Add some color!”

I do have a couple of moments I’m proud of.  When my son, Brent, was six-years-old he had a “train room” in the basement of our house.  That’s where he watched his little train go around and around the track, go through the railroad crossing, dump some logs, and continue on it’s journey.

But the train room was ugly.  A bare light bulb with a pull string dangled from the ceiling.  The walls were made of cinder blocks painted white.  I (actually, this idea sounds like it came from a kid, so it was probably we) had the bright idea of letting the neighborhood children come over and paint a picture on a few cinder blocks.  So we did.  I put sandwich bags on their feet, a plastic bag for a smock over their bodies, provided paint and brushes, gave them their assigned squares to paint and sat back and watched.  It worked!  We ended up with clouds, big fat birds that looked like airplanes, houses with smoke coming out of chimneys, trees, hearts, and stick figure families.  The train room was transformed from ugly to cheerful and it provided many happy hours for the kids.  It was hard to leave that house in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a number of reasons but mostly because of the masterpiece painted on the walls of the train room.

There are so many people in the early childhood field who have had a major impact on our body of knowledge.  I was at a brain development conference in Montreal a number of years ago and  T. Berry Brazelton was a speaker.  It was a very special time because we were in a small room, not a large one.   The twinkle in his eyes, the way he held and rocked a pretend baby in his arms––wow, what a great communicator.  I learned so much and came back to Colorado renewed and ready to go! I’d love to hear about people who have inspired you in your work with children and families.

Child care programs tend to celebrate fall in all sorts of ways.  Some have costume parties, others have fall carnivals or harvest celebrations.  If a number of your families celebrate Halloween in the traditional sense, you may be interested in Halloween Safety for all Ages posted today in free things for teachers and free things for parents.  And I just received the Spanish translation so I posted that also.  In addition to tips for keeping children safe (which, I’m glad to see are prevalent this time of year) I’ve included information on how children view Halloween at different developmental stages.  As you know, fun and more fun to some children can be way to spooky for others.  If this information is something you are interested in, please send your parents to our web site or download the page and distribute it to your families.

I can’t resist dressing up.  I think I’ll be a pirate (a nice one) of course!

A Boy Scout just came to my door selling goodies.  He was adorable––and his dad was friendly––I ordered popcorn, lite, of course.  And that got me thinking about fundraisers.  We had a few at Little Folks Discovery Center, and we always had a plan for how we would spend the money such as on new riding toys or sand and water tables.  Some people hate fundraisers, and they are a bit tricky.  On the one hand they teach children some lessons in sales and following through with deliveries.  And they provide revenue for neat stuff.  On the other hand, they can be a lot of work for parents.  We had a few fundraisers at Little Folks Discovery Center––my favorite being the publication of a cookbook compiled of our families favorite recipes.  This recipe is a keeper––try it!

Cherry Cheese Cakes

16 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 can cherry pie filling

18 vanilla wafers

Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each muffin pan liner.  Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla for 5 minutes.  Spoon cream cheese mixture over vanilla wafer in muffin pan.   Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  After the mixture has cooled for a few minutes, place a spoonful of cherry pie filling on top of the cream cheese.  Refrigerate for one hour before serving.  Delicious and very easy!

I remember kindergarten vividly.  In full color.  There were books and paints and tambourines and blocks, and lots of other wonderful things to play with.  But  what struck my fancy was the little playhouse that sat in one corner of the room.  It had a door that opened and closed and window boxes filled with fake flowers.  The players who “lived” in the house didn’t vary much––there was a busy mama, a deep-voiced father, and a crying baby, but if you were lucky you got to be the milkman delivering little wooden bottles of milk.   Time for pretend lasted a long time in those days.  I also remember my rug.  Each kindergartener brought a little rug to school that rolled up and fit into a little bin.  When it was time to quiet ourselves, we pulled out the rug, selected a place on the floor beside of our best friend and just rested.  After rug time we had a snack to get us energized for the fun to come.  It was quite wonderful to drink milk from a little carton with a straw.

In his book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, Robert Fulgram talks about how we learned very important things like not to hit people, and to clean up our own messes.  And we spent lots of time drawing, singing, and playing.  And maybe most important of all, we  learned to wonder.  I would love to know what you remember about kindergarten.  Send me a comment!

I’m very excited about my new blog, “Thinking Out Loud.”  I thought a lot about my first topic.  My mind is wild so there’s lots of stuff cycling around at all times (yes, even when I should be sleeping) but I settled on “tough times.”  I think it will resonate with many if not all of you.

In the late eighties, Colorado Springs was the “foreclosure capital” of the world–– that’s what they said on the news, and we saw the headlines reflected in the jobs that ended overnight.  At that time I owned Little Folks Discovery Center, a preschool that offered three-hour classes, a private kindergarten, a full day program, and a school-age program.

We had great times at the center—amazing children, creative and warm teachers, and supportive parents!  But as I watched childcare programs of every type––good ones, bad ones, big ones, and small ones close, I wondered what we could do to keep our quality program and our doors open.

It was fitting when I found a big poster of lemmings all in a line jumping into the sea.  The catch?  There was one lemming that wore a cute little life vest.  I thought it was perfect to hang up in the kitchen, so I did.  “That’s us,” I said.  “We’re going to survive like that lemming!”

As time went on and things got worse, our enrollment diminished and our budget plummeted.  We thinned the easel paint and cut the lunch napkins in half.  Anything parents offered from blueprint paper (for creating masterpieces) to oatmeal boxes (for creating drums and bug boxes) was put to very good use.  We depended heavily on the simple things––sand and water, music, and games.  And a good book like The Three Little Pigs read with all of the good voices is unbeatable even in tough times.

We took it one day at a time, and we carried the image of that little life-vested-lemming around in our heads.  We laughed a lot, and, oh yes, one thing that we never cut back on was Teacher Treat Day.  Every Friday one teacher brought treats for the rest of us––and I imagine there was an abundance of chocolate therapy going on.  Good luck to all of you as we move together through these tough times, and if you ever come across such a lemming poster, send it my way