Mandala Kinderbetreuung

Some of you may already know that my program requires all the participants to complete 40 hours of volunteer service by the end of January. If you didn't know that before, you do now. Finding a place to volunteer in Germany is hard. Volunteer service is something that is slowly creeping into the culture but it is not quite there yet unlike in the United States where it is almost expected for things like scholarship applications and college applications. So after searching for months, I found a daycare that wanted me to volunteer by them. Now I am no child person. I am like a fish out of water when it comes to kids. I don't get them. They cry for no reason, they are unreasonable, and they play with their food. Time was ticking though and I needed to find a place to volunteer quick or I was not going to complete my hours on time. So I decided to bite the bullet and volunteer at the daycare. It was called Mandala Kinderbetreuung. I first had a small interview with the boss lady and then, the following week, I was working there. I wasn't ever given a formal introduction to the other employees or the facility so it was really not easy the first couple of times I worked. I didn't know anyone's names, I didn't know any of the rules, I didn't know where anything was, and everything was in another language! This is a German thing though. They don't really give you an introduction. You need to ask questions and get the information. I understand that asking questions leads to answers but if the employees know that I know absolutely nothing about how things are done then why not volunteer information? This is not a rude thing it is just a German thing so I really did not take offense to it. It just made me want to cry a couple of times. Haha.

I don't even know where to begin with the kids. How is it that my first experience working with kids ended up being in a different country and different language? The silver lining was that they were young enough that they spoke such simple German that I could actually understand them...sometimes. And that's the thing about kids too; half the time they make no sense anyway...even when they speak the same language as you. The kids were just like I thought they would be. Silly, loud, dirty, irrational, and REALLY CUTE! By working at Mandala I kind of understand why someone might want to work with children or even have children of their own. For all their downfalls, they are just so stinking cute especially when you are sitting down and they just plop in your lap and ask you to read to them or grab your hand with no warning whatsoever. Have I become a kid person?

There was one girl though...you know the one. Every daycare has one. That little boy or girl that will grow up to be a bully. This girl shall remain nameless. The first day I was at Mandala she was really nice and even competed for my attention. She would say things like "I cooked you some noodles" or "I can count to 10 in English". She even hugged me the second day I was there. That should have been my first warning. It's always the ones that want all the attention. During that second day, however, the kids built a little bridge and were just walking over it for fun. This girl decides to just plop down on it and not move preventing 10 other kids from having fun on it. I asked her to please move several times because it was everyone's bridge and she didn't so I picked her up and set her to the side. Well, that really must have ticked her off because, every other day I worked there, she was super mean to me. She said that I was stinky sometimes and her favorite thing to say was "Du bist böse" which means "You are angry/mean". She said it several times in a row one time while I was playing with a different kid. The little boy finally leaned in towards me and said "Du bist nicht böse. Sie ist immer böse". Hahah so he basically said that I wasn't mean and that SHE was always mean. I love that little kid for coming to my defense. He will always hold a special place in my heart as my little savior.

And now we come to the part that we all think but never say out loud. The favorites. We all have them even with our own children. I of course had my favorites within the daycare. I had two favorites. Even though I would have been blinded by my love for them, they really never did anything wrong. It was a boy and a girl and they were just so well behaved. They never cried, they never fought with anyone,  they went to bed when it was nap time, and they were just so gosh darn cute. They both had big blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and blond hair. The blond haired, blue eyed thing wasn't that important but because of that they looked like they could be my children. Haha If every kid was like them I would totally work at a daycare but unfortunately the little bully girl ruined any chances of that happening. The first time I met my favorite little boy, he also had a runny nose. I am sorry but there is nothing cuter than a little kid with a runny nose. It sucks that they are sick but the way they wipe their little noses with their sleeves and hands is so cute. Yeah sure, they are spreading diseases but who cares. They're cute!

I would basically just show up and play with kids all day. They never made me clean anything or change a diaper. I just got to play with kids all day and give them individual attention. A lot of the kids knew German, English, and one other language. A lot of the kids knew Russian (I'm in the east block remember?) so I would always ask them what things were called in Russian. It was cool that these little munchkins knew so many languages but it sure made me feel dumb for being 23 and learning my first foreign language. My favorite part of the day was Morgenkreis. It means morning circle. We would all make a circle and sing a song or tell each other what we were gonna do that day. One time we had a tea light in a bowl and we passed it around to the person next to us and as we gave it to them we had to say "Schön dass du hier bist" which means "It's nice that you are here". It was so cute. I learned patience and how to keep my cool when a kid is acting ridiculous. It's easy to like kids when they are being cute and behaved but you have to learn how to act when they are not being that cute. I have a baby niece back home so I have to perfect these skills for when I return home.