Doctor's orders

Over my time at Jumpstart I have learned one very important lesson when it comes to taking care of children, do not take anything they say to you to heart. Kids do not have filters, what comes to their mind is not thought through they simply state what they observe. Since the beginning weeks of the classroom, my team and I have made it a tradition to share the funny little quotes we heard throughout the day. Sometimes after a rough day in the classroom, the little anecdotes give us a little giggle before we head home for the day. One of my favorite stories comes from my experience after returning from a cold.

Luckily due to snow days I did not have to miss any sessions because of my cold, but I still was plagued by my left over raspy voice. I thought that I had almost recovered from my voice until one of the little girls came up to me after center time and nicely told me I sound like a man. She said she heard me during Bingo and then told me “I think you should go home and have your mommy make you some soup, you sound like my daddy.” I thanked the little girl and waited until she left to break out in a small laugh. She truly looked concerned for my health and was serious through the whole time she was talking to me. Later in session I saw her again in my station, books. The child wanted me to reread our core story book of “Oonga Boonga”. With her she brought her stethoscope and every time I turned the page she would take her stethoscope check my heartbeat then allow me to continue to read. She did this for the whole story no matter how many times I told her I thought I was going to be okay. When I finally finished the book and she started to walk away she turned around and said, “Don't forget, doctor’s orders are to go home and drink your mommy’s soup”. As I broke out in a laugh she scolded me telling me that being sick was not a funny thing.

Walking out of JumpStart that day, retelling my other team members the story of my little doctor I almost completely forgot how stressed I still was with all the work I missed. I was not going to be able to go home and have my mother’s soup like my little doctor wanted but she still was able to make me feel better. The little laughter she gave me that day was the little stress reliever I needed to finish out my day.

~Brittney Thompson

Corps member

Team Opportunity