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Oh no! A stick!

Yesterday I was able to see Luke's preschool class walk across to a small playground. Luke had his jacket partway in his bag (it was a beautiful day) and was trying to stuff it even more into the bag. It fell out as soon as he stopped stuffing.

Then one of the children who was following Luke called out, "Hey, Luke! Your jacket is on the ground!" The teacher who was leading them (the other teacher was back in the room) called out to Luke to leave it on the ground, but none of the kids following Luke was able to pass it. The kids in front of Luke walked to the playground like nothing happened, the kids behind him watched anxiously as Luke went back to his jacket, managed to stuff it all the way in, and then continued on the way to the playground. Catastrophe adverted!

It reminded me of the scene from the beginning of "A Bug's Life" where a stick (or was it a leaf?) falls in the middle of the train of ants bringing food to the offering. The ant just behind the stick doesn't know what to do---he's so used to just following the ant trail that anything new is stressful. An older, wiser ant leads the confused ant around the stick, and the others follow, finally able to move.

OK, so Luke and the other kids in his class aren't ants. But toddlers/preschoolers are definitely some of the most conservative around when it comes to routines and rituals---you'd better make sure the new routine is for a good reason before you change it!
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