Margot Sullivan is a part-time reader's advisory and reference librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column as published in the May 14, 2015 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.
My three and a third year old granddaughter is a joy. She has an infectious laugh but when she is telling a joke and thinks she is pretty funny – the laughter changes and her Dad says “oh boy here we go again”! There are not enough words to describe her – loving, independent, curious, stubborn, imaginative, bossy, caring, exuberant, fearless, and more. Never did I think how wonderful it would be to watch this child grow ever so quickly.
Evie is ready to tackle each day with energy and instant activity. “Daddy I am awake now!” which is usually around 6 or so in recent months and means literally she is ready to read a book, color a dinosaur or draw all before breakfast. Her boundless joy at exploring everything is evident constantly. They go to a variety of playgrounds from small to “big” and Evie always gravitates to the bigger kid’s side attempting to climb everything and she is quite good at it. For many months Evie has loved construction trucks – diggers, dump trucks, cranes, rollers – the more the merrier. Evie has many many stuffed animals and right now likes her stuffed shark she got at Easter. She has one doll that I know of named “Baby Um”. Why the name Baby Um you say? Evie’s mother asked her what she would name the baby doll and Evie kept saying “ummm” so she became baby Um. At home Evie might all of a sudden burst into a mini ballet dance recital in the living room. She loves music. She creates her own dances according to the rhythm of the music. She often sings for an hour or so after she has read two books, been tucked in, and had a song from Mommy or Daddy (Grammy sang “you are my sunshine” to her). Evie and Grammy have watched the movie FROZEN 4 times. Evie knows all the words to the songs and continues to remain entranced by this movie. Amidst all of this activity Evie is aware and alert of others. She has a tender kind side to her where she will impulsively hug her Mom or Dad and she said to me one morning ”Grammy who tucked you in last night?” I cannot remember what I answered – I was taken by surprise.
Evie’s biggest love is books. What more could two librarian grandparents ask for!! She might start off the day with a “Thomas the Train” story, “Angelina Ballerina” or maybe an “Arthur” adventure or “Pete the Cat”. Books overflow the shelves of the play area and her bedroom. Evie visits “her library” and brings home more books! One that we read together over and over was “How to babysit a Grandma” by Jean Reagan. This was a delightful, whimsical story of a little girl’s overnight at Grandmas where they dress up, read, go to the park, and snuggle together. Next to books Evie has become quite good with puzzles – the latest special puzzle is of dinosaurs.
Evie is not without her “moments”. She is learning that she will have to share attention with her baby brother who is now intruding into her life in many ways (that would be a subject of another whole column). She is learning that some behavior is not acceptable. She is learning that sharing and compromising are important parts of growing older. She does not like “time outs” but occasionally gets one. She is a very active busy child and being tired often leads to negotiating what happens next. This is all part of growing and learning for herself.
I thought I would see what our library collection had on child development that might be of help to parents of toddlers. I found 3 very insightful books that appealed to me. “Me, Myself and I: How Children Build Their Sense of Self” by Kyle Pruett (155.422 Pruett). I liked a lot of what this book had to say as I can see Evie beginning to form her own self- image - the struggles and the triumphs. Another book I thought interesting is “Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our Achievement Oriented Society (649.1.Crain). Some wonderful fun ideas are found in “50 Fantastic Things to Do with Preschoolers by Sally and Phil Featherstone (372.21Fea). We have many more books on the subject of raising children. Also our Children’s Department has a Parents Shelf with all kinds of suggestions and topics on raising children. In closing Evie’s parents are doing a wonderful job and I am a very happy Grandma!
