BACKGROUND:

At Millard Children's Academy child care center and preschool, located in Omaha, Nebraska, we feel privileged to have our lives enriched by the children we care for. Nearly each and every day, the kids say and do some of the most amazingly cute and funny things. As they learn and explore their world, their innocence and naiveté allows them to express themselves as only children can. Sometimes their interpretation of words, or phrases they have heard, causes laugh out loud moments.

Miss Terri has been involved with child development since 1985. She often says she could write a book about some of the funny things kids have said and done over the years. She wishes she would have written down stories and quotes as they happened, because as the years go by they fade from memory. This page represents her opportunity to share some of the lighter moments we've encountered with the wonderful children we care for. Check back often as you never know when a child will say, or do, something cute or funny. Enjoy!

STORIES & QUOTES:

- One of our school-age boys came to MCA the morning after our recent hail storm. As he was lining up to go to his elementary school, he was overheard telling Ms. Toni, "Ms. Toni, did you know it rained ice cubes last night?"

- One day one of our Preschool Teachers and her 4 year old daughter were leaving at the same time as one of our other families. It was a mother and her 3 and 4 year old children. The kids were screaming and bickering with each other and their mom was struggling to get them in their car seats. Our teacher's 4 year old looked at her mom and said, "I think they need Super Nanny!"

- One day one of our 4 year old boys came walking out of our cubby room without his pants on. When we asked him where his pants were, he said, "They're in my cubby." When asked why, his reply was, "I just wanted to try it out for a while."

- "It's kind of hot outside today, so I think I'll sit in the shave."

- "You know, when there are no stars out, it's peach black."

- A beautiful 5 year old girl would start every morning in the office while she waited for her mother to drop her little brother off in our infant room. She hung out until mom came back so she could say good-bye. One morning she hopped up onto one of the office chairs next to Terri. Terri was busy writing something and the girl started twirling the chair and accidentally bumped Terri's arm, causing her to mess up. Terri looked at her and teasingly said, "Dude! You made me mess up." Without missing a beat, the girl replied, "Dude?! I'm not a dude. I'm a princess!" Terri almost fell off her chair laughing and agreed, "Yes, you are a princess! Sorry!"

- From the Kids Can Surely Brighten Your Day Department: One day our Art Teacher was having a bad morning, and because of it was not her normal, cheerful self. Her class of 4 year-olds was busy painting pumpkins when one of the little boys finished his, and the teacher thought he said, "It's beautiful!" So her reply was, "Yes, it is beautiful. You did a great job!" He looked at her and said, "No, I said you are beautiful!" Her heart melted and she gave him a big hug and thanked him. Needless to say, her mood changed and the rest of her day was great!

- Our copy machine is located in the back room of our office. On a daily basis, we make copies of word-finds, coloring sheets, worksheets, etc. Kids are often sent to the office by their teacher to get some copies for the rest of their class. Countless kids have come to the office, asking for "coffees."

- Each May, we have our Preschool Graduation Ceremony in the evening at a local middle school. The children practice for almost a month leading up to the ceremony. During the final week, Miss Terri goes in with the kids to help prepare them on what to expect and how to behave. On the morning of graduation, she holds a question and answer session to help alleviate any anxiety they may have. The kids will raise their hands to offer their suggestions on how to make the night run smoothly. During this process she also talks about what NOT to do. One time a normally quiet, beautiful, red-haired girl raised her hand and said, "And we don't pick our boogers!" She was right!

- In our Toddler Room, we have 3 awesome full-time ladies that work with the children. One of them had recently gotten a motorcycle and brought her helmet inside on the days she rode it to work. Of course the children are curious and one of the kids, who was not even two yet, asked what her helmet was and why she had it. On one particular day this teacher had driven her car and did not have her helmet. When she went to go home, this child told her she couldn't leave because she didn't have her helmet! Even a one year old knows safety!

- The preschoolers in our art room were coloring pictures and some of them wanted to hurry along. Their teacher was encouraging them to take their time and do their best when one of the children said, "Yeah, you color along the outside first." And another child goes, "Yeah! You've just gotta focus!"

- When the preschool kids wake up from their naps, they come to the reading pit to wake up a little more before they get placed in a group with the other children. One day, Terri was sitting in the pit with the kids and one of the older preschool girls came and snuggled up next to her. After a few minutes the girl looked at Terri and said, "Do you like lobster?" And, of course, Terri said, "Yes, I love lobster." There was probably a 3 minute pause and the girl looked at Terri again and said, "Do you like candy with your lobster?" After laughing for several minutes, Terri replied, "Yeah, I guess I do!"

- Wisdom from an 18 year old: "The problem with kids today is they don't have boundaries. You give kids rules and boundaries...they cross them...they have consequences. You follow through with them. This is life!"

- One time, the kids were working on the letter "G". One of the teachers was using the theme of groceries to help them grasp it better. She set up a grocery "store" in her room and the kids would go shopping for "groceries." During this process one of the little girls said, "Yeah, we need to go to the grocery store, my mom's out of bourbon. My mom likes bourbon! So we need to go to the store."

- One morning, one of the teachers had gotten out several of her "Little People" play sets for the children in her group to play with. One of the sets was the Farm Mega Set and another was Noah's Ark. The teacher and a little boy were arranging the sets when he picked up Noah. Noah had a rather large white beard, a walking stick, and was dressed in a robe and sandals. The boy, looking inquisitively at Noah, asked his teacher, "What should we do with this one?" So she took Noah and put him on a tractor. The boy, looking at her quite perplexed, said, "You can't put God on a tractor!"

- One afternoon, Mr. Mike was walking out of the restroom when one of our Teacher's daughters, who was 4 at the time, saw him from her classroom and ran up to give him a hug. She then excitedly blurted out, "My mom's in SAN ANTONIO TEXAS!" Without missing a beat she then said, "But BOO Texas though!" Of course she was wearing a Husker t-shirt at the time. Boy do we raise 'em right here in Nebraska! (Please note: No actual Texas fans were harmed during the telling of this story) ;-)

- One day during art class, the children were coloring on white paper. The teacher noticed that one of the little girls was looking through the crayon boxes and picking out all of the white crayons. When the teacher asked her why she was doing this, she handed all of the white crayons to her and said, "Here, these don't work!"

- One morning, a child was at the front desk getting a Band-Aid for a small scrape. She noticed that all of the Band-Aids were brown, and asked why we didn't have any "Princess" Band-Aids. The teacher explained that the boys probably wouldn't like Princess Band-Aids. She thought this over for a few moments, and then told the teacher that the daycare should have Princess Band-Aids for the girls and the brown Band-Aids for the boys.