I've always loved interacting with kids. I have been babysitting since I was 11, worked in multiple day cares/ preschools and have had a few nanny jobs. I also attended uni for Early Childhood Education although I didn't finish. I don't have any of my own yet but I have a few "fake nieces" as I call my friends kids and my boyfriend of 2 years has 5 nieces under 4 that I adore.
Hanging out with children 1-5 is my favorite. They're developing at such a rapid speed that you can see changes literally overnight and learning is still fun! I have always loved to quiz kids on the basics of their age such as color, anatomy, animal sounds, etc and have never thought twice about it. I also try a game where you get toddlers to work on their consonants by singing, "lalalala", "bababa", "roorooroo", "soosoosoo" etc.
Today while visiting boyfriend's family I was doing the "lala" with the oldest (4yo) as her articulation needs a little bit of work. She just started pre-k this year and she's really picked up her speaking it's just not very clear yet. I made it fun and smile and laugh while doing it and kids seem to find it silly and fun. I asked my boyfriend tonight if what I did was rude and he said it could be taken wrong by certain people and I haven't been able to shake the shock since. I do not think I am better than any mother or judge their parenting in any way when I play with children like this. I never considered it as crossing a line but now I'm feeling anxious.
So what do you think, ladies/ gentlemen? Have I crossed the line? Should I reach out and apologize to all my mommy friends? Thanks!
As background, I, my brother and my cousin all had speech lessons in elementary. I had a trouble with my s's, my brother and cousin r's and I always found speech class kind of fun.
Also, It's not like I simply correct their speech, I'm on the floor with them most of the visit reading books and playing pretend. Kids usually love me and I leave them alone if they don't, lol.
Hanging out with children 1-5 is my favorite. They're developing at such a rapid speed that you can see changes literally overnight and learning is still fun! I have always loved to quiz kids on the basics of their age such as color, anatomy, animal sounds, etc and have never thought twice about it. I also try a game where you get toddlers to work on their consonants by singing, "lalalala", "bababa", "roorooroo", "soosoosoo" etc.
Today while visiting boyfriend's family I was doing the "lala" with the oldest (4yo) as her articulation needs a little bit of work. She just started pre-k this year and she's really picked up her speaking it's just not very clear yet. I made it fun and smile and laugh while doing it and kids seem to find it silly and fun. I asked my boyfriend tonight if what I did was rude and he said it could be taken wrong by certain people and I haven't been able to shake the shock since. I do not think I am better than any mother or judge their parenting in any way when I play with children like this. I never considered it as crossing a line but now I'm feeling anxious.
So what do you think, ladies/ gentlemen? Have I crossed the line? Should I reach out and apologize to all my mommy friends? Thanks!
As background, I, my brother and my cousin all had speech lessons in elementary. I had a trouble with my s's, my brother and cousin r's and I always found speech class kind of fun.
Also, It's not like I simply correct their speech, I'm on the floor with them most of the visit reading books and playing pretend. Kids usually love me and I leave them alone if they don't, lol.