Meow

When my daughters were little, they often went through “fashion” phases in which they insisted on wearing a certain accessory constantly.

For example, when Elizabeth was three years old, she wore a sparkly tiara for months. Everywhere we went, that tiara adorned her head. There were often comments in the grocery store- “Are you a princess today?” to which she would smile broadly in response.

I’ve witnessed this out in public and in my own preschool classroom… the super hero cape, the western boots, the glittery necklace, the temporary tattoos. The child feels beautiful… or powerful… or just downright fashionable.

About ten years ago, I had a student in my class named Katie.*
Katie wore a headband with cat ears EVERY DAY. This was not a short phase; Katie literally wore those cat ears all year long. I would hardly recognize Katie if she happened to show up without the cat ears. It was as if something was missing.

As the year was drawing to a close, I commented to Mom about how much Katie loved her cat ears. Her mom’s reply knocked me off my feet and cracked me up…

Katie had been wearing her cat ears to our school, Lenape Kiddie Kollege, because she goes to “KITTY” KOLLEGE! It just had not occurred to me to take the cat ears literally as would a four year old!

So a couple of months ago, I was reminded again of Katie when one of our little summer campers innocently asked me, “Why is this place called Kitty Kollege? There are no cats here!”

And then again this week, the cat theme came up. The children were conversing about the names of the classes in our school- the Dinosaur class, the Teddy class, the Bunny class. One of the children who did not want to be left out of the conversation piped up, “I do not go to Teddy College. I go to Kitty Kollege.”

You just have to love the mind of a four year old!

*name changed to protect child’s privacy

The author, Theresa Young, is the director of Lenape Kiddie Kollege in Medford, NJ. She has taught 4-year-olds for over 25 years. She is a Mom of 4 and a Grammy of 7.