Hi-Yo!


Lucy

My granddaughter, Lucy, is almost two years old. She is an outgoing little girl who warms up to other people quite easily. Unlike most of Meagan and Andy's other kids, she actually enjoys staying in the church nursery while her Mom and Dad teach Sunday School. That is, she enjoys the nursery as long as her friend, Rose, is there, too.

Rose is not quite four months older than Lucy. They have been sharing the nursery since they were both infants.

Their relationship has not always been amicable. Lucy, as the youngest of six children, knows how to defend herself and protect her playthings from the other kids. It wasn't long before she taught Rose everything she knew about hitting and pushing to get her own way. So, when I was in the nursery with them, the offender had to sit on my lap for a brief time out until they both realized that there were better ways to get along.

Now, both Lucy and Rose are speaking in sentences and using their words to express their wants and needs. Bullying behavior and nursery time outs have gone by the wayside, for the most part, and their friendship has blossomed. In fact, on those rare Sundays when Rose is out of town with her parents, Lucy pouts in the nursery, missing her friend.

On this particular Sunday, Lucy crawled into the glider and pouted for ten minutes before we were able to distract her from missing her friend.

When I had nursery duty this past Sunday, Lucy and Rose were the only two kids in the nursery. Rose wasn't there yet when I arrived, but as soon as her Mom dropped her off, Lucy ran up to her, shouting "Hi-yo! Hi-yo!" over and over again, while grinning from ear to ear. ("Hi-yo" seems to be a combination of two different words, hi and hello.)

After they finished greeting each other, Rose and Lucy sat down together to play on the floor. Both of them have become quite proficient with the knobbed puzzles in the nursery, so much so that it's time to exchange those puzzles for some different ones. I was pleased to see them handing each other the pieces that were needed, and showing each other where to put them. That's a lot of cooperation for two-year-olds who aren't supposed to really play together for another year or two--early childhood education norms say that toddlers play side-by-side instead of together until they are three or four years old.

The girls were able to finish the puzzles without any help from me. Then, they took turns bringing me some books to read, with both of them crawling onto my lap, or sometimes standing right next to me, while I read to them.

Next, they spent at least 20 minutes playing on the climber and slide. One would crawl through a side opening and slide or jump down the slide, and the other would follow suit, both of them giggling and sliding, and giggling some more. Occasionally, one of the girls would hide underneath the climber until someone noticed. This continued until Lucy decided she needed some goldfish crackers and, of course, Rose wanted some, too.

Best friends

When it was almost time for me to turn the nursery over to my relief, Rose and Lucy gladly helped put all of the toys and books where they belonged. It was time for Rose to go home, but Lucy stayed in the nursery a bit longer, while her dad led worship for the second service and her mom led children's church. Now that she had been able to play with Rose, she was content to play with other kids in the nursery until it was time for her to go home.


A friend loves at all times.
Proverbs 17:17

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