Building Self-Esteem

I am glad you had a good time. I was smiling the entire time I was reading your post. You are right, they do hate to lose. But we have to teach them good sportsmanship, as well as competitiveness. Oh boy, being a mom makes you have to type long words, haha.

The thing that I have learned about kids is that they will go for whatever kind of attention they can get from their parents, whether it is good or bad. That is why kids continue to act up, even when they know that the consequences will be bad or even painful.

You are so right. When my sisters and I were younger, we had no choice but to use our imaginations. My mother was very strict when it came to watching television. We were only allowed to watch certain things when she was home. When she was not home, we were not allowed to watch t.v. at all. When she came home she would check to see if the t.v. was warm from watching it, if it was, we got in trouble. When we were bored, she would tell us to read a book. If we didn't know how to spell a word, she would tell us to look it up in the dictionary. That has become a life long habit for me. We played school with our dolls and we would teach them things that we had learned, so it was like reinforcement for us. We would put the dolls in a milk crate and then put them up on the clothes line and run them across as if they were on a ride at Disneyland. We didn't have video games, so we were forced to use our imaginations. The imagination is limitless and you can us whatever you have to create new things. I am glad my mother took the time to teach us to appreciate and use what we already had, instead of always wanting more. Some kids have to have the newest this and the newest that. We learned to be grateful.

That really helps when they are able to teach an adult something. They feel that they are somehow superior to us and we need their help. It makes you feel good when you depend on your kids for something and they are able to come through for you.

Ten of them, ha, I don't envy you at all. I love children dearly, but ten 2-3 year olds at once? I would have to keep the psych ward on stand by. When two or three children interact together, it is cute, but ten little ones trying to get along together and I am by myself. Oh my, the mere thought of it. Teacher, can I have some water? Teacher, can I go to the rest room? Teacher, bobby keeps hitting me. Teacher, why are you pulling your hair out?

LOL...that's about right! You must be spying on me at work.:P They can be so sweet one day, and mean as snakes the nest. I have them pretty trained though. The behavorist that comes around to various daycares in the county says I have one of the most well-behaved classes he has ever seen. I guess I'm doing something right, but it's never easy, even on a good day.