Barnehage kids

I got a job! Ok, its not my dream job, but I think it works great for now.  I am working at an agency that sends me to different day cares, barnehager, in my area.  As a parent, this has been an enlightening experience because I get to see the inside of a barnehage and participate in their daily routines and games.

When I deliver Nico in his barnehage, I always wonder how he plays, or if he actually eats all his food or just drops it on the floor like he does often at home.  I basically want to know what kind of kid he is at barnehage.  Is he the funny one? Does he like to cuddle? Or is he the one climbing all over the place and encouraging others to do the same?

He obviously doesn't say much when we get home.

He might mention that he went outside to play in the snow and that he played with cars.  But thats pretty much it.

In my search of trying to figure out what kind of kid my son is I have used my experiences from work to compile a list of seven personalities that can be found at a Norwegian barnehage. These personalities are not referring to a specific child, but are more of a gathering of traits that are almost always present.

#1 The giggly girls: they come in pairs and are dressed in either pink or purple.  They will ask to play with your hair and dress up dolls.  They do everything together, eat together and nap together.  They don't cry unless one of them gets picked up.  They are easy to take care of since they entertain each other and require minimum attention.

#2 The tough girl: she might be the youngest in the group, but she will not let anyone take her toys.  She knows how to defend herself and doesn't take no for an answer.  This one is a bit harder to take care of because you might need to break up the fights that she starts when she takes the red car that another kid had.

#3 The cuddle-bug: there is always one kid who just wants to cuddle everyone, from teachers to other kids.  This kid spends about an hour sitting on someone's lap after nap time.  Its easy to take care of a kid like this because they just require holding and humming.

#4 The younger sibling: since I work with ages 0-3, chances are that they are they younger sibling of another kid in the day care.  These kids are usually advanced in speaking and playing more complicated games.  They will also ask you to sing the songs of Kaptain Sabeltann despite you having no idea what this is.  They are a bit harder to please but they are easy to communicate with and usually you can negotiate and sing Baa baa lille lamb instead.

#5 Karsten and Petra: If you haven't read these stories, they are about a boy and a girl that are best friends and their toy animals are friends too.  It seems that this is a pair often found in barnehage as well.  I think my son Nico falls in this category since I always find him playing with the same girl when I pick him up from barnehage and can even say her name.

#6 The energy bunny: This is the kid that all barnehage workers keep their eye on.  They climb cabinets, jump from the highest point in the room and run around in circles.  These are the kids that literally recharge after nap time and spend the afternoon burning up the energy again.  Despite them being fun to play around with, they might pose as danger for the smallest babies.  The parents that pick up these kids are usually very sporty Norwegians that use sleds to carry them home.

#7 The ultra Norwegian kid: This kid wears Marius genser to barnehage.  His matpakke is filled with healthy snacks and he leads the others down the snow slope.  This kid is really independent and might speak in dialect, making taking care of him or her an extra challenge for my own Norwegian skills.

I know I am probably missing a lot of personalities, this is just a short compilation of characteristics that one might find in a barnehage in Norway.  Some kids might be a #3 in the morning and a #6 after getting refueled from lunch.  I am just enjoying watching all these little personalities develop in their playing environment and I keep wondering what Nico does during his barnehage hours. At least I know he's an energy bunny when he comes home.