In The Park Dentists Became Toddlers
How smiles, tissue paper, and a sudden rainstorm renewed my faith in humanity.

“Do you feel that? I think it started raining!” Settled on a blue tarp under stormy South Florida skies, I lift my face and hands to the sky, dramatically jumping to my feet, wiggling my fingers and dropping my elbows to show the American Sign Language sign for rain.
Bringing my entire body back down to toddler height…
Looking into the faces of…three adults and two kids?
The rest of the class, including their adult guides, already had their back to me as they charged toward the snack pavilion and out of the rain. Deep into their snack bags and our chalk bin before I can say “It’s just a drizzle!”.
While I’m proud of them for using gross motor skills and working as a team, even if it is against my lesson plan, I was a little disappointed they bolted out of the rain so quickly.
Then I heard it. The only sentence I needed to hear to restore my faith in humanity.
“Did you see what I made? I feel like I’m the toddler today. I’m loving this!” with a chuckle, Dr. Lantern Maker, actually a very gifted dentist, holds up his paper covered mason jar for me to inspect.
I’ve always had a soft spot for dentists — they are truly unsung heroes, especially to new moms — but what happened next shook me to my kindness core.
Not only is this lovely man out here on a Sunday morning with his wife and son, but he was lost in a Lantern Making Arts & Craft Project completely focused and intent on feeling the rain on his skin while finishing his project.
“I really needed this. It’s so relaxing and great to just create.”
Then I feel a tug on my left shirt sleeve. “Mine is pink. Look at what we made.” As I turn to my right, I come face to face with one of our beautiful parents, her daughter skipping and playing soccer with my son no what the drizzle has died down.
In front of me…a pink and purple jar smothered in orange tissue paper to accentuate lavender and found flowers, yarn dipped in glue adds texture and another pop of pizzazz to the Lantern being held proudly…by the mother of another explorer.
“Can you show me how to tie the double knot? I love playing with these colors.”
Parents and caregivers are amazing people.
I write a lot about working from home. As a copywriter and ghostwriter, the bulk of my working day is completed behind a computer screen.
But one day a week I am out in nature with my group, teaching play-based learning. The set-up and lesson planning is insanity, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of my family.
The focus is always on behavioral schema and how to engage the children, the oldest of them are 3, the youngest is 22 months — so it can be challenging to hold their attention.
I do factor in their caregivers and parents…but today it hit me.
I was leading a class for adults while the kids played in intermittent rain. These parents needed some Montessori style TLC, to be shown how to relax in a different way, to turn their mind off in a safe environment without phones or television, and to just be heard.
These three dedicated and loving parents entertained kisses as their kids ran on and off the tarp, told stories of their favorite childhood games, and fell deeply in love with their creations.
It’s days like this, I am so honored to work in an unconventional setting. Dropping into people’s lives with an appointment out in nature; so proud to be part of the parenting community.
Within a group where we pick up each other’s children if they are crying, we listen with everything we have in us when tough days challenge us, and laugh freely when glue spills on the tarp knowing the rain may chase us off the tarp momentarily but it will also wash the icky away for another day of play.