YEA! Today

We had a good day at YEA! today, but I'm exhausted. DS1 was signed up for a class every time slot. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, but it turned out to be very good. He has really matured since last spring regarding being able to go to a class without me, participate in the class, then come find me (with a helper) when the class is over. It is a big relief to me, allowing me to only have to watch DS2 like a hawk, instead of both of them.

Class time 1:
    DS1 was in "Painting without brushes". They used things that rolled to make 2'x4' creative pictures in purple and blue. DS1 came to me afterwards, saying he was done. He had not told the teacher he was leaving, so I escorted him back there, to tell her.
    DS2 was in "Social Hour" which is basically free play for those not in classes. It is also a place for teachers to take their "littles". The gal normally in charge was absent. I'm sure someone else was "in charge," but it was not evident to me who that was. At one point, while all of the other adults were sitting around a table talking, I stopped a toddler from escaping. Her mom was teaching another class, so I know that the "in charge" person should have been watching her. While I was doing that, DS2 escaped out the other end of the room. (It's a long multi-purpose/fellowship hall type room.)

The "Social Hour" class used to be in a smaller classroom. I liked that a lot better. Now it's almost like at our previous place where chaos reigned in the big room the whole time. We have "Social Hour", then "Little Explorers", then lunch, then "Exploration Stations" in the fellowship hall. They all need the big space; it is just very stressful for me.

Class time 2:
    DS1 was in the kitchen making noodles. The planned teacher was absent (same gal as "Social Hour"), but her 2 helpers did the the class anyway. Thanks! It was great. DS1 even liked the chicken noodle soup after I convinced him to try one taste. I'm sure he would have liked the spaghetti noodles also, if he had tried them.
    DS2 did one of the circus crafts with "Little Explorers", but he doesn't like to sit for the stories with a big group of kids. He likes being read to at home, so I think it's just the bigger group and overstimulation that causes him to want to stay away. LE seems to get done in about 30 minutes, or maybe it's just that we get done with it that quickly. Then there is 30 minutes to kill before DS1 is back from his class for lunch, or like last week, he's ready, too, so we eat early. Then there is a lot of time to kill before the afternoon class.

Lunch:
    Both boys have been eating well at lunch. I'm glad because sometimes they didn't last spring. I've brought cheese sandwiches, chips, applesauce, and lemonade the last 2 weeks. I think I've discovered our standard Tuesday lunch. :-)

Class time 3:
    DS1 was in the kitchen again, making "no bake cookies." Again, this went very well. He came out to ask me if he could go to the playground with his class and teacher. I'm very glad he asked! He says he remembered that he was supposed to ask first, not that his teacher told him to.
    DS2 and I were in "Exploration Stations." I brought big cardboard blocks for a "construction and demolation" station. It took a little while to get the other kids warmed up to building and knocking down towers, but overall it was a HUGE hit. We even had one tower that was taller than me. I held the girl up over my head to put on the last few blocks. The main problems were keeping DS2 from knocking over other people's towers, telling kids to use hands not feet, then when the bigger kids came in after their classes it was too much and we had to put them away. It was clean-up time anyway, but I was letting them continue to play for a few more minutes. The kids were good at helping pack the blocks away, and I think they will be excited to see them again the next time I facilitate that station. If I can figure out what to transport them in, I will bring more next time. The blocks certainly went over better than the puzzles did last week. Several of the other moms commented on the blocks also.

Afterward:
    I "lost" DS1 for a short time. After his cookie class went outside he came back and brought me his cookies. I told him to take them over to our stuff. He didn't come right back to me. I looked around and didn't see him, so I thought he went back outside to play. DS2 and I took the blocks out to the car, passing the playground, but DS1 was not there. So I left DS2 with the playground mom (although we don't have an assigned "playground adult"), with explicit instructions to make sure he didn't escape, particularly when someone else opened the gate. I went back inside looking for DS1 and even asked if anyone had seen him in the last 10 minutes. "No." Then we found him playing in the tent. It was in the same area as the blocks, so we just crossed paths. He and I had a little talk about Mommy always needing to know where he is. He said he was playing with our magna-doodle earlier, by our stuff, then he came over to play in the tent. We gather up our bags and headed back to the playground. It was beautifully cool this afternoon, after being drizzly and muggy this morning, so they played and I watched while talking with another mom. Then DS2 fell from the monkey bars. Everyone heard the thud! Then the crying. I even saw him fall but couldn't get to him fast enough. He had dirt all over his face and even a little in his mouth. No blood, though! I asked if he was hurt or just scared, and he replied, "just scared." After a few minutes of brushing off and snuggling, I encouraged him to climb up one more time before we left. He whizzed up to the top again and asked me to catch him this time! :-) All is well. He's one tough cookie!

So that's today's YEA! report.