Today I dropped off Rey at daycare and there has been a new little girl in there the past few of times we have gone in. She is very quiet and shy and just observes all the other kids in the room holding her bottle. I saw her parents once on her first day of “school.” Like any child it is going to take them a few days, sometimes weeks to adjust to their new surroundings.
The mornings that I take Reagan in I typically hang out with her for a few minutes while she eats breakfast and I talk to her teacher. We have become friends over the past few months and we get to catch each other up on our hectic schedules. Today Reagan sat down next to this little girl to have breakfast and instantly started chatting her up. My child, not shy! I joke (not very funny when I really think about it) that Reagan is my milk carton child because she will walk up to anyone and wave to say hello. I’m trying to get her to understand that it’s great to be social but not to her extreme.
Anyways…this little girl just stared at Rey and watched her. She had already been given her food and was not interested in it all. I said hello to her and again, nothing. I asked Brandi if she was always this shy or if she just took a little longer in the day to get going. It was only 7:30 in the morning and sometimes it takes a while to get moving unlike Reagan; out of bed at 5:30 every morning and raring to go! Thankfully Brian and I are morning people.
Brandi told me that she was pretty much like this all day. Didn’t really interact with her classmates and rarely spoke anything. She said her parents were very strict with her and Brandi had a lot of rules she had to follow while the little girl was at daycare. She mentioned that she didn’t really get to play at home and from what it seemed lived a very sheltered life. I was saddened to hear this because I think all children should be allowed to be just that, children. And that includes giving them play time and letting them experience new things.
I was glad that this little girl was in daycare and was being given the opportunity to experience something new, hopefully make some new friends and let her inner child out. It will be good for her social development. No doubt Reagan will help encourage her along as she loves hanging out with her daycare friends; ever the social butterfly. In time I’m sure this little girl will feel more acclimated to her surroundings and start to enjoy herself and she can carry that new found freedom into her home life as well. Let the child play! Hence my quote of the day today:
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.”