Babies are Bouncy

Babies are bouncy. Okay, maybe not aaaaall babies, but the majority are surprisingly bouncy.

When I say “babies”, I’m not thinking of fresh-out-of-the-oven babies, I’m talking about the 1.5-3 year olds that are found in the youngest group of kids in the kindergarten. The majority average about 2, 2.5 years old, but there are a couple that are just a bit younger or older. These are the “babies” I’m thinking about, because, let’s face it, if I have to change your diaper and explain to you why we don’t touch what’s in it, you’re a baby.

But, back to the topic – bouncy babies.

There is one child in this group of youngsters that I am particularly fond of interacting with, let’s just call him Elf Baby. “Elf Baby,” I hear you say. “What is this nonsense?” First of all, I’m convinced he’s a changeling. Don’t know what that is? Click here. Essentially, it’s a supernatural baby that was secretly switched out with a human baby. The supernatural community got a human baby and we, the human community, get the supernatural baby. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing, whatever road you decide to believe in. As for me, the child looks like an elf and acts as I imagine a crazy fairy baby would do, so there ya go.

This guy is constantly on the move. Seriously non-stop. He’s my own little pinball machine, and it’s awesome. I set him down and VROOM! Off he goes! But he doesn’t get too far before he crashes into something and falls down. But, no worry my friends, he sits up, looks at me and laughs, gets back up and keeps going until the next obstacle sneaks up on him too quickly (like a small chair, the door, another child sitting on the floor that hasn’t moved in ages) and BAM! He’s bounced off it and five other things, gained 3849 points and is laughing at his good fortune as he gets up and continues on. On multiple occasions I’ve had to catch him just before he hits something that could be a problem (i.e. the kid with the cup of water or the other teacher trying to calm a baby that dropped a block on his toe) and just pick him up and redirect him and let him go. It’s really great fun to watch keep an eye on him. The best part – he’s never cried. He’s never pouted. He’s never once shown a sign of injury in his daily game of Pinball in the Kindergarten. He seriously laughs each time and just keeps right on going like, “HA! That carpet, it got me this time, but it was a good joke on me! I’ll get it next time! Ooo! Toy!”

I have learned two things from Elf Baby so far. One, clearly not everyone is born with spatial awareness. Two, if you take to heart each time you bump into something and/or get knocked down, it’s going to be a lot harder to recover your momentum and keep moving forward. But if you keep racking up the points and laugh at it all in the end, you’ll enjoy the ride a lot more and create a sort of “buffer” that will protect you from being hurt, but the good kind of buffer that is filled with happiness and oh, I don’t know, maybe a little pixie dust? 😉