Children on the Loose!

The story of a curious toddler.

By Eric Schaafsma

7:02 A.M.

Driving through downtown Crown Point, during early October, to Marie, my newfound babysitter’s, house.

 

Crown Point, IN

Marie’s House

7:16 A.M.

I arrive at Marie’s, and enter a room with three white cribs. I now realize my parents will soon have to leave for work.

7:27 A.M.ZACK AND LEA

    Marie watched 2 other children also; Zack and Lea, who had been there longer than I had.

Its never comfortable being the “new kid”

10:43 A.M. Nap Time

While us three kids were away for a nap, Marie took advantage of this time to watch Maury Povich.

Since we had an inch of freedom, we decided that we would do something, anything, other than sleep.

All three of us decided to bounce in our cribs; what kid doesn’t like to jump on the bed?

11:03 A.M.The Adventures Begin…

I then saw Zack jumping up over the gate of his crib onto the floor

11:05 A.M.MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO

Lea followed, and succeeded.

11:09 A.M.

…Monkey fail.

Unfortunately, I did not succeed.

OUCH.

I had shattered my right elbow in this attempt to fit in with the group. I screamed until the ambulance arrived.

The Damage:I woke up in the hospital with a cast all the way down my right arm. This meant I would now depend on my non-dominant left hand.

Long Term EffectsToday, I still write with my left hand, but do all other activities with my right.

I mention this because it is ironic; trying to fit in with the group ultimately made me more different.

LESSON LEARNED

At the time of the incident, the only lesson I learned was that I should not climb or jump out of my crib

Today, this experience taught me to embrace what sets you apart, and what some people may consider flaws, because they make you, you.

Lesson LearnedUltimately, this experience helped shape who I am today, and I believe this played a big role when I was choosing colleges. My friends all chose attend a community college back home, however, I clearly am not following in their footsteps. Although I do miss my friends, they reassure me that I made the right choice when they tell me how jealous they are that I do not have to live at home with Mom and Dad anymore.

Images Cited http://www.google.com/imgres?

imgurl=http://www.karlharfordgolf.com/images/BallState.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.karlharfordgolf.com/thescholarship.asp&usg=__x-MUloVW244psXzyiz4hxZgP20Y=&h=262&w=328&sz=30&hl=en&start=30&zoom=1&tbnid=nHLoN6gKHX3AMM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=190&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dball%2Bstate%2Buniversity%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D599%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C961&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=327&vpy=274&dur=2348&hovh=201&hovw=251&tx=115&ty=155&ei=siqaTLGiOcTflgeGyth1&oei=biqaTLPcOYbGlQeN8vDjDw&esq=21&page=3&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:30&biw=1024&bih=599

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uwishunu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dear-flyers-lets-do-this-with-love-500uw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uwishunu.com/tag/with-love/&usg=__ygxKVD9OFDp3KNRC9bv3XF0srjs=&h=500&w=500&sz=55&hl=en&start=21&zoom=1&tbnid=pWkUtwcl24hscM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlet%27s%2Bdo%2Bthis!%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1318%26bih%3D604%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C790&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=792&vpy=95&dur=1822&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=140&ty=112&ei=RyqaTILcOYP6lwfstfwJ&oei=VxqaTN_bPMT48Aaszdj4Dw&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:21&biw=1318&bih=604

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eVanQgZLDio/ShT7Wm5vjKI/AAAAAAAAA50/B7gEq7uio9c/s1600/IMG_6077.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lovebugportraits.blogspot.com/2009/05/three-little-monkeys-jumping-on-bed.html&usg=__-bYOlgV8xvjbnhsa7cbYpAwXMXo=&h=600&w=800&sz=70&hl=en&start=62&zoom=0&tbnid=s0JiqlrG4LdqmM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmonkeys%2Bjumping%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bbed%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1318%26bih%3D636%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1781&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=527&vpy=278&dur=3866&hovh=107&hovw=143&tx=115&ty=44&ei=vfuZTPrbNoWonQeuyvA0&oei=mfuZTJT6N8SWnAeektX8Dg&esq=4&page=4&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:62&biw=1318&bih=636

Images Cited http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=599&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=broken+elbow+x-ray&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai

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http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=599&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=child+writing+with+left+hand&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17291,22881&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=child+jumping+out+of+crib&cp=25&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=599

My Compositional Choices

I created a power point to visually narrate my story because I felt as if I could tell about my experience in an appealing and effective way. Since I was talking about my childhood in this piece, I went into the visual with a childish theme in mind. This is why I chose to use simple colors and fonts like Chalkboard, and Arial Rounded. Also, I thought putting the time on each slide throughout the incident would help the reader to follow the story.

Finding images was challenging for me because I wanted to be consistent with the images that I used, but since I only had one picture of myself from the incident, I had to use images from the internet. Some are free stock images, and some were found in google. It was still challenging to find pictures to match continuously with the others, but I believe it still provides a narrative flow and adds emotion to the storyline. Another thing I struggled with at first was the animations. I have recently switched to a macintosh computer, so it just took a little time to get familiar with. Arranging the images was simple because I just had to add a picture that would fit the information for the particular slide I was working on. Overall, I enjoyed this project and I am glad that I explored outside of my comfort zone.