Wednesday, October 21, 2009

There's Danger and Diagramming Today!

As we were getting toward the end of Tiny Tots today I thought, "Wow. They didn't ask the kids to do anything crazy." But of course, I was wrong. It was about that time the teacher started dragging out the big blue mats. I should know by now that "big blue mats" are really just a way to alert the parents that it's time for the danger portion of class. I couldn't imagine what in the world the kids were going to do as she started setting them up. She stood one mat up on its side leaning it slightly against the wall (so it was about 7-8 feet tall), then left the other mat on the ground. And here were the instructions: climb the mat (Um, there's nothing for them to hold on to) and when you get to the top, turn around and slide down it. (Um, it's pretty much at a 90 degree angle, won't the kids just fall 7 feet to the floor?) Reed was first so I turned to the teacher and said, "I have no idea how this is going to work. What should I do?" She suggested holding Reed at the waist, but he (like me) didn't really understand how to climb the mat without anything to hold on to, so I just kind of pushed him up as far as I could with him sitting in my hands. He then "slid" down (I was holding onto him). Then it was Kyle's turn. I should have known he wouldn't need any assistance since he's able to scale everything in our house. So here's Kyle's turn climbing the mats in diagram form. (Please remember I was trying to make the mat look like it was standing on its side, which requires 3-dimensionalish drawing...and that's pretty mathy, and y'all know how I feel about math.)

Okay, so diagram 1 shows Kyle scaling the mat. He just dug his little feet in and went straight to the top. (And in no way, shape, or form does Kyle have that much hair. I was just trying to show that was the back of his head.)


Diagram 2: Yep, he went straight to the top...and stood up! I would have had to climb the thing myself if I needed to get to him. (And BTW, one of the moms did have to climb it when her son got up there and got scared.) After Kyle stood up and got a bird's eye view of the gym. He sat down and dangled his feet over the side.


Diagram 3: And then he slid down! It was pretty much a half slide/half free-fall drop, but he did it. Twice.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you mistakedly signed the boys up for Extreme Tiny Tots--or would that just be Tiny Tots Durango Version?
Lu

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Little Monkey! Maw Maw

Friedt Family said...

Go Kyle! He's braver than I would have been, my experience would have been much more on the Reed side:-) Love the illustrations Jan, you're on your way to being a bona fide arteeest!!

GS said...

I can see it now, you will soon have your house carpeted with mats from them scaling the walls and hanging from light fixtures. I am almost tempted to visit a Tiny Tots session in Houston just to see if these guys are being prepared for mountain climbing by the time they are 3.

Unknown said...

How else are they going to prepare the children for skydiving at 6 and free rock climbing at 7? Come on Mom!

Miss. Jinny said...

Oh my goodness that is so funny I would have no idea what to do either! :) Good job mom!

Shelley said...

Jan! You are too fabulous for words! I love the illustrations. I'm so proud of Kyle and his climbing abilities. When do they start ski lessons?? Shel