Different Lifestyles for Children

         I have been thinking about the different lifestyles between children a lot lately. Why? You might ask. Well, working at a shelter and then working at a "regular" daycare/preschool is very different within itself. When it comes to the children, though, that is not the only thing that is different. The other thing that is different is how they are raised and the culture that they are raised in. I love how every parent is so nervous and scared for their first child that sometimes they overprotect too much or don't ask for ideas or advice they just raise them.
         Then there are parents, if you want to call them that, of the children at the shelter that doesn't care about the children at all. Yet I have seen some smailiar things in a few children at the daycare and some at the shelter but they were raised so differently. I love working in different settings and learning these different things.
         The child that I had at the shelter couldn't do anything on his own at all because he literately had not been taught how to do anything. Then the other child that I see same yet different at the daycare he was a little too overprotective and won't do things by himself unless he is made to do them by himself. There are some differences in the two children. I would rather have the overprotective one then the one that knows nothing even though he was cute too and I could really tell a big change with him but here is why. I just want to say that I have been blessed to help both of them get to where they are today, hopefully.
          The child at the shelter was 4 years old physically but he had a mind of a 16 months old, maybe a little older. Can't quite remember all the details. This child came in eating on the floor, not knowing how to use a high chair or table. We had to teach this child that. He didn't know what silverware was or a plate was. Didn't know how to use them. He would throw them at me when he was done eating and try to get out of the high chair himself. This was a joke between me and a old co-worker but I got ice cream throw at me once and that's not all. He threw toys everywhere because he didn't know how to play with them. He cried and screamed because he didn't know any other ways of talking. He was also very aggressive. We lituatlly had to help him learn everything at the age of 4 years old. He was very behind.
           The child at the daycare is just a little overprotective and here is why. He is one years old and when he came to daycare, we thought he was younger but it is just turning out to be that he is overprotective. He is getting comfortable with the center and with us, teachers that he is opening up more. All he would do at first is cry non stop and wouldn't eat for us at all or even take a nap in his crib. It only took 2 weeks to change that all. He is now sleeping in his crib for us and he is eating for us better then he was. He wouldn't take his bottles from us either but now he is and that started just this week. He also would not get down on the floor to play but yesterday he almost played all day on the floor.
          It was strange because he would be fine in a closed up place like the high chair and a jumper. He loved those two things but would start to cry as soon as we put him on the floor with the other children and toys. Come to find out, he is contained at home in small areas. He has never been in the floor where there were tons of toys to play with and other children to play with too. This was also his first daycare because he stayed home before this. His parents even said that they wanted him to have the interaction with other children that is why they brought him to the daycare. He is all smiles with us finally and that took about 2 weeks to get him that way. He likes me, which at first, I don't think he did. I think he was kind of unsure about me.
          I learning that the little boy at the daycare is slow at learning things. I think he needs to do one new thing at a time. Instead, doing of doing all new things at once, he needs to do one new thing at a time. He is learning something new. Give this poor boy a chance instead of throwing everything on him at once or he will get to mad and not do anything. My other boy at the shelter had the same problem too. They will get upset if you introduce things to every new thing in a day because then they can't do anything that they try and they will get mad at themselves. You don't want a crying child around, do you?
          Sorry these are just some of my thoughts on children and a lot of these thoughts sound like a way an OT/A would go so I should go ahead a be one. Right?