We have 11:00 church which has always been tough for Tyler since its in the middle of lunch and nap time. Combine that with no AC and you have a very grumpy antsy 1 year old. I spent most of last Sunday out in the courtyard with him since he didn’t want to sit still during Gospel Doctrine. I was walking past all of the classrooms, which all have windows so you can see in and noticed where the nursery was. The leaders told me I could come in and join them. It was air conditioned in there and they had out lots of toys with only a few kids. The nursery leader told me they only had 5 kids that day and about 4 leaders. (They usually have over 10 kids) So although I told her Tyler was only 15 months, she told me he could stay as long as he didn’t cry. In my mind I’m thinking “Ok, bud - now don’t bIow this. They’ve got air conditioning, snacks, toys and friends to play with. This is your big chance: An early intro to nursery. “ I knew Tyler would probably throw a bigger fit if I tried to take him away from the toys so I decided to take advantage of the chance to enjoy Relief Society. Tyler’s usually fine with babysitters and never cries, and if there were toys and other kids around he’d be fine.
Well about 30 minutes into Relief Society I look over and see Tyler trotting down the aisle with a big smile on his face and remnants of a tear on his cheek. He’d been kicked out of nursery on his first day…I looked back to see the nursery leader walking back to the classroom – she hadn’t even bothered to make sure I saw him before she left! I’m kind of curious now what happened that he started to cry. I’m quite sure it wasn’t because he missed me. A more likely scenario was that either Tyler wanted a toy that some other kid wanted too and a fight broke out with some tears or he wanted to do something the leaders didn’t want him to do and Tyler’s strong will came out with some tears. I think I’ll sit in and observe for a week or two next time before I leave him for good. I do worry a little about the cultural differences in raising children here. I see a lot of kids Tyler’s age just wandering around the yard, unattended by adults and I wonder if this kind of mentality is true in the nursery too. I’m also wondering if this “no crying” rule is a condition they put on the 18 month olds too. If so, I’m thinking they must either have some really well behaved kids in there or they’re frequently returned to their parents.
P.S. Tyler also started walking the day after we arrived in Samoa. I knew he was holding out.
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