Cookie and Cake

Some of the highlights of my time at New Futures are the littlest of things--little things that make my heart swell up so big that I have an uncontrollable goofy grin across my face when I think about them. Every child I work with speaks English as his/her second or third language. This means that inevitably there are misunderstandings, words that come out funny, and combination words created between the child's native language and English. This is especially true among the younger children. A couple results of these language confusions are nicknames for me!

During my time taking care of the kids whose parents are going to English Language Learners (ELL) class, I take care of twin 3 year old boys who speak Amharic and a bit of English. I realized after a couple days of taking care of and playing with them that when they call me, they call (what sounds like) "Cookieee!!!" or "Cookie, look!!!!" It is SOOO cute that they call me cookie and even cuter when you hear what Diego calls me.

Diego is a little boy from El Salvador who is 6 years old. He is as cute and as full of energy as can be. I am constantly working with him to listen and self-regulate. He is so fun loving and happy that it isn't a burden to be constantly working with him. For whatever reason, he has it in his head that my name is Cake, not Kate. A couple of the other kids in our table group have tried to correct him, but he just keeps calling me cake, and I have to say, I love it!

Two highlights from my experience with New Futures, being cookie and cake :) I hope you enjoyed them! Any little highlights that brighten your day?



 ps I have one follower!!! wooohooo, how exciting :) Thanks, Daddy!