It’s group night at the shelter. Seven kids sit with me around a table, listening nicely as another child tells a story. A two-year-old and her sister are sitting together. I don’t work with kids under three usually, but this toddler won’t let her sister out of her sight, so I let her come along.
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Of course she soon gets bored and starts making noise. I give her my “kitchen box,” which is full of plastic replicas of all things found in the kitchen. She plays with its contents for a few minutes. Gets bored again. Dumps whatever isn’t on the table on the floor. Luckily, it’s now playtime so the other kids are already playing with toys, the doll house and games. Another child and I pick up the mess.
A few minutes later, the little one is bored with the dominoes. Her sister’s busy so I give her a BIG plastic shoe box of crayons and a couple pieces of paper. Soon, she’s bored again. Dumps the entire box, at least 500 crayons, on the floor.
Can’t believe it. This toddler was so quiet and withdrawn a few weeks ago when I met her. Now she’s being a regular two-year-old brat.
I love it! She’s not afraid of me or what I’ll do if she’s “bad.”
So I laugh and she and her sister help me pick up the mess.
Score one for the shelter.‘
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