Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a silly goofball. I learned about the joys of comic relief at a very young age. Always the class clown. (But in a good kid kind of way - I promise.) I come from a long line of funny family generations. Now that I'm a full-fledged grown up old lady, (ha ha just kidding...) I am still quite the nut! And I think that it's awesome and it's healthy and it's okay!
So when I'm around kids and children and toddlers I like to laugh it up and have a good time! I'm constantly singing silly words to goofy songs, making up funny lyrics on my ukulele, doing silly goofball dances in the parking lot or in the isles of the grocery store. Not to the point of embarrassing anyone, I promise. But the way I feel about this is that hopefully by setting an example, a child will learn from me at an early age, that it's okay to be fun and funny and not-so-perfect and not prim & proper and well-behaved all the time.
Now don't get me wrong; There is a time and a place for everything...
I, myself attended a charm school in my teenage years and I was tutored in proper etiquette, poise, character, attitude, manners and public conduct! Do I carry around a magic umbrella like Mary Poppins? Not exactly. (...well... maybe on rainy days.) I was raised well by my parents and I was taught how to behave at the military officer's dining clubs and at formal dinner parties and how to use all the appropriate silverware at the right time and proper place settings. I folded my napkin in my lap and I knew how to sit properly, like a lady and I spoke only when spoken to. (All that fun uptight stuff!)
Soooooo... maybe that's why I'm so free spirited today... now that I'm "allowed" to be? Perhaps, but I do think it's important for kids to know that there is a good balance and therefore humor is fun and funny and it's important for us to learn that it's okay to laugh at ourselves sometimes. To not take ourselves so seriously all the time.
I think I really started digging into this philosophy the year I started a new job with a new family as a nanny for their little boy who was very shy, quiet and socially underdeveloped as he was on the spectrum. So his ability to "read" a sense of humor was hard for him to grasp. His sense of what was funny and not funny was not quite tapped into yet. He was still young, yet I could see it in his eyes, he just didn't see the point. He would just stare and blink and watch me and he would remain completely silent and unamused. He was always quiet and serious and nervous and uptight about every little thing from eating a frozen yogurt to dropping something on the floor or even tooting. I actually had to make up an "Everybody toots" song for him because he was so embarrassed every time he would pass gas. Poor little guy. So I worked with him on this. (Not the tooting part ha ha!) I worked on not being so reserved and concerned all the time with his poor little furrowed brow. Like the weight of the world was on his teeny tiny shoulders! Kids aren't supposed to care this much!
It took him a while to warm up to me and play along and not look at me like I was cuckoo when I would start singing silly songs about making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or going pee pee on the big boy potty or tying his shoes or simply pouring some cereal in a bowl. I made up a song for everything! I wanted to make EVERY thing we did fun and funny and lively and jovial and happy.
It taught ME a lot too, about building relationships and just letting go and letting loose and being free and not taking everything so darn seriously all the time. I couldn't help but think: "Gosh if this poor little tiny young kid baby child is so uptight and stressed and concerned at his young age, what is he going to be like as a grown up adult? It just broke my heart. So by the end of our summer together this kiddo was jumping in puddles and splashing the water all over us in his rubber boots and laughing at silly bird noises and faking armpit fart noises and singing Miss Jen's singing silly songs with me at the top of his lungs in the car out the rolled down window as the wind blew thru his hair. And I am happy to say: yes... even giggling every time Miss Jen would toot. (well... technically I don't toot ... I "fluff". I mean c'mon. I'm a NANNY!) ...and of course they smell like cotton candy! Just so you know!
For more information about newborns, babies, infant, toddlers: you might find my FUN educational youtube videos helpful: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyUZ0DQiBXWUvkOaKRtHFVA
💗 Nanny Knowledge with Miss Jen
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