YMCA life

I have always been a very kids oriented person. I have two younger siblings, a history of babysitting, and an obsession for the little ones who look at you like you’re everything. That said, I thought that volunteering somewhere where I could solely interact with kids sounded great.
Although it is more structured than day care, the atmosphere at Kid’s Place is very laid back. While some of the staff are good about giving the kids attention, some of the older women usually take their spot in a rocking chair and stay seated until a child cries or the little ones start eating the crayons. It was weird for me to realize that even though kids interest me, for some it is simply a 9-5 job with hourly pay and a free Y membership.
One of my favorites is a little boy named Ryan. He’s 3, will climb into your lap to listen to a story, and has the prettiest eyelashes in the world. He’s adorable. Having now been volunteering for over a week he has started remembering me and just today came in and hurled himself into my arms. He’s actually really bright. We were reading this animal book today that matched the animals to colors and when I pointed to one he would make the sound like “moo” for cow. It was so cute to see his eyes get bigger when he knew the animal and would look to me for recognition.
Today we didn’t have a very busy day. With not a lot of kid traffic it allowed me to spend one-on-one time with individual kids instead of constantly picking up the crying ones and balancing them on my hip while I play a movie for several others and find coloring sheets for the other 5.
Jack was the little 8 month old I got to follow around today. He is not walking yet but still very mobile. I’ve found it’s almost harder when their not walking because that means their trying to walk and climbing on everything! So, trying to engage the curious one, I got out our little plastic colored pianos and started pushing buttons, thinking the sounds would spark some interest and they did! For five to ten minutes… then he was off climbing on chair legs and counter railings!