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Mother's who worked at
The Chilocco Indian School brought their children through the doors of the
small house which had been designated to be the day care building. Those
little people were all from two years and up. Their warm, fluffly-coats,
mittens and caps gave them the warmth they needed for these windy, piercing
cold mornings. Their mama would stand for a moment with them while the tiny
person in front of her hung their head but otherwise did not complain. I was
just a girl but I identified with the children because my own mother had
always worked with Dad on the ranch. She took us to our Grandmother in town
so they could do the ranching chores. I don't think I ever remembered at
all, the exact time she left. Gramma always had me busy with some activity
and Mother wasn't missed.
This was happening to
these children also. They hung their coats in the little stall where their
name was marked. Evidently it was a learned habit because surely they were
too young to read. If rain boots were pulled off these were put on the
bottom of the tall, narrow small box like cabinet. As methodically as if
someone was guiding them, one by one, the kids walked over to the shelves
holding toys. The girls who had obviously worked here before were busy with
helping the little ones find their own particular favorite toy. When they
were through with a certain toy they dutifully picked it up, returned it to
its place on the shelf, before they took out another.
The free time did not
last any longer than it took for the last child to arrive. Every activity
was acted out much like a choreographed dance. After a frugal morning snack
of fresh squeezed orange juice and some other small tidbit the little people
lined up to quietly step up onto a small stool so they could brush their
teeth, this was after a toothbrush had been retrieved from their own
cabinet. Their parents were military people and so were the children.
It didn't matter that
the freezing wind blew over the play yard. These tough little people were
dressed in their warm coats, mittens, and caps for a brief play time
outdoors. Some of the more tender hearted girls held one or other of the
smallest children in their arms which gave them a little warmth. Fortunately
the fresh air requirements were kept to a minimum when a freezing climate
outdoors there on the edge of Northern Oklahoma close to the Kansas line
made even breathing difficult.
Meal time found these
quiet, disciplined children seated four around a miniature card table just
their size. The meals were taken at an adjoining house where the tables and
fresh white tableclothes had been evidently placed there by the girls who
were in Practice Cottage and this was yet another part of the home
economics training. |
