Cinco de Mayo and a visit to the RCMP

On Tuesday (May 5th) I got to be the parent helper at Evelyn's playschool. The kids all went on a little field trip to the Boyle RCMP station, then celebrated the Mexican holiday 'Cinco de Mayo' with some traditional Mexican children's games and a Taco lunch.

(I wrote a very detailed and - I thought - amusing description of the field trip, but it was lost when I had to reboot my computer due to Internet connection issues. Grrrr. I just don't feel like writing it all again!)

Let's see... Here are the highlights.


The usually very chatty group of 12 preschoolers became suddenly mute as soon as they entered the detachment. I think they felt a tad intimidated by the officers in uniform. They know several of the officers at the detachment, but as 'Daddy's' of their friends. Those familiar faces were not there that day.




They were all placed in a holding cell, and had the door closed. All of them thought that was pretty neat. Those cells are the epitome of 'minimalism'. concrete all around, with a raised concrete ledge for...sitting? Trying to sleep? One thing for the design is that it looks very easy to hose down. Later, they tried on a constables hat, then they were handcuffed. Most of their hands were so small, they managed to easily slip them out of the cuff.






They got to explore a police cruiser. This was a 1970's 'Cherry Top' styled contemporary cruiser that the RCMP has distributed to a handful of detachments throughout the province. I am not sure why they created this small fleet. I assume it was a PR or promotional campaign of some sort. The main differences between it and a regular cruiser is that it is mostly black with white doors and it has a single red 'cherry' light on top. The regular cruisers have an all white body. I was surprised by the very minimal amount of leg room in the back seat. I don't think creature comforts are a consideration in the design of police facilities and equipment. I guess it all adds to the punishment of breaking the law.

The kids enjoyed pressing the different siren buttons and watching the lights flash.

At the end, after receiving some goody bags with bicycle safety items, they were all bestowed the title of Honorary Constables. Their assignment as 'officers' was to tell the Sergeant if their parents drive without wearing a seat belt so the Sergeant can give the offending parent a ticket. The kids faces showed complete glee at the idea of having that sort of 'power' over their parents. I hope that none of them are ever in a situation where they need to use their 'authority'.

There are 4 things I just don't understand: Not wearing seat belts, not wearing helmets when riding a bike OR an ATV, improperly installing a car seat, and driving under any sort of influence. They are all ridiculously stupid risks to take. The increased risk of dying is one thing, but it's the increased risk of serious disability that really makes me cringe when I see those things happen. In the case of impaired driving, the reckless endangerment of others makes me furious.

I will get off my soap box now. Thank you for your attention. ;-)

On their return to class, the kids celebrated the Mexican holiday 'Cinco de Mayo'. They played some traditional Mexican children's games, ate taco's and had a pinata.

The idea behind the design of the pinata was that each child would pull on a string attached to the bottom flap. When they all pulled together, the flap was supposed to fall off, and the candy would fall. It's a great idea, especially when little kids swinging a bat is the alternative. I like that it promoted teamwork, and each of the kids would participate in breaking the pinata.

Should you decide to try this technique for your next pinata, here are a few tips I learned that day: tape the bottom flap on with the least amount of tape needed to keep the candy in. Also, make sure the pinata is very securely attached to a strong anchor.

What happened was that the kids pulled, and the whole thing fell down. The flap stayed on, and we ended up manually tearing off the taped flap and dumping the candy over the kids heads. It was still pretty fun anyway.

The last impression of the day that I have to share relates to teamwork. I recall having group work strongly encouraged when I was in school, and it always felt like a very intentional and stressful exercise to me. Who is the leader, what are our roles, are we all pulling our weight... I watched a very organic and natural example of group work when Evelyn and two of her friends completed 2 new floor puzzles. These 3 kids worked almost silently and independently, yet together they accomplished their goal. They made themselves aware of what each other was working on, and they each studied the picture of the completed puzzle in turn. None of them took a leadership role. When one had a suggestion for where to place a piece, they respectfully made their suggestion. It was a pleasure to watch them interact. Of the group, Evelyn probably had the most 'alpha' personality, but she is pretty willing to go along with others. So there was essentially 3 'followers' making their own way together. It was a very interesting and peaceful dynamic to watch.

Later that day, both Evelyn and Ethan had their first soccer practice. It went pretty well. I totally forgot to take pictures, though I had my camera in my hands for most of the practice. They are one the same team because they are born only 1 calendar year apart. (Early 2005, and late 2006). The rest of Evelyn's friends are in the older group because they were born in 2003/2004. When the team first assembled and the coach asked the kids to introduce themselves, Evelyn jumped up with her hand raised high and shouted "I'm Evelyn!". Ethan quickly followed suit with and equally enthusiastic response. Ryan and I just chuckled, shook our heads, and wondered 'where did these extroverts come from!?' (For the 1000th time...)

They worked on kicking the ball and taking turns. They also did a very healthy amount of running. It's a very, very young team, so I think the overall expectations are just to get them comfortable kicking the ball and learning a few basic team concepts like listening, following instruction, and taking turns. There are enough kids to make two teams, so they could play each other, which is nice too.

Next Tuesday, May 12th, at 7 pm, Evelyn will be having a dance recital. If anyone wants to come and watch, you are more than welcome. We will be in the Boyle school gym. A couple weeks later, on May 26th she will be having her playschool graduation ceremony and the kids will also be performing several songs. Again, you are all welcome to come and visit and attend.