Stuff I Like This Week

• Baking: From My Home to Yours* - I got this as a graduation present, and have already made three recipes.
• Brown sugar! See above.
  
• These shorts, which make Dutch look like a demented pirate, in a good way.
• Summer Reading at the library.
• My new wallet. See, it's a GOOD thing, losing your crappy old wallet.

But what I really like this week is the daycare where Dutch and Skipper both go. This week was "Staff Appreciation Week" and I was reminded how much I DO appreciate the staff there. Dutch has been fortunate this year to have two teachers whom I think are really gifted. I have never really clicked with either of them, personally, but I have been really impressed with their teaching. They seem to truly enjoy the company of the kids, and they work with them in a way that amazes me. The kids are interested in paleontology? Field trip to the science museum to see the T Rex!** The kids are interested in building things? Set up a workshop corner and have the kids build a shrinking machine! The kids enjoy singing? Have karaoke sessions at lunch! Dutch is sobbing desperately because she forgot it was Costume Day and has no costume? No problem! Wrap a headband in cloth and tape on some ears, find a feather boa, and pin it to her shirt for a tail!

Skipper's teachers aren't so obviously super- great, but they are consistent and warm, and that's pretty darn great. Yesterday when I picked her up, we ran into one of her teachers in the hall, and Skipper ran to her, beaming, and embraced her knees. I don't need any more endorsement than that.

*Thanks, Big Cooks!
** I'm extra impressed because the thought of taking a gang of four and five-year-olds out in public (on public transportation, no less) makes my knees quiver. I met up with the class on a field trip in the fall, and I told the lead teacher I was amazed by her ability to cope with chaos. She looked at me in puzzlement. "This isn't chaotic," she said.