Why I am excited to be a mother

I volunteer at a therapeutic preschool for children ages 2-7 every other week day from 12-3 pm. Oh how I love my group of kids!

My group of kids that I help with are ages 4 and 5 and they are a very rambunctious bunch. They all have completely different personalities and that makes them so fun loving. My favorite thing to do is to make up new games and act like a little kid again.

So, here's a little bit of information about what I do there and why the kids end up here. These children can be experiencing behavioral or emotional problems at home or in school that public preschools aren't able to handle or address. Each class at the therapeutic preschool has a maximum of 9 children with 2 TPSs' (adult teachers) and then volunteers can come in and help out a little bit.

As a volunteer, I interact with the kids to show them how to build positive, healthy relationships with adults (or big people as we say) and I help the teachers during rotations/transitions to make these shifts easier and go more smoothly. One thing I would say was my biggest challenge in the beginning was talking to the kids in a way they would understand. Obviously I talk to little kids but never in a situation where the kids are working on a behavioral goal.

Each child is there for certain reason; that reason can be court ordered, working on basic social skills, or have a difficult home life. However, as a volunteer, I am not allowed to know that reason for confidentiality reasons. The one thing I am allowed to know are the goals the teachers and therapists have set for each child. These goals can be play with friends, be friendly, do what the group is doing, have a calm body, or use big kid words. They may sound simple but for a 5 year old, these are huge accomplishments.

Now the reason I am excited to be a mom.

Over the past 4 months that I have been there, these kids have gotten to know me. So now when they are hurt, upset, or having a tantrum, they come to me for help. I LOVE FEELING NEEDED. As strange as it sounds, I love having kids come to me when they need comfort or just want to play with someone. I have had puzzle pieces thrown at my face, kicked, had every sticky, gooey food spilled on me, and have been told to shut up (followed by a few curses). I have also invented games by using their shadows, spray bottles, and unique ways to get them to eat their lunch by asking if they like something (movie characters, knock knock jokes, etc.) I have days there where I forget why these kids are at the preschool and days where so many bad things happen I almost want to cry. But even on those bad days, I still want to work there and I still want to have children of my own.

I'm learning how to handle tantrums, spills, anger, tears, play time, and lots and lots of energy. I'm learning how to be a mom.