Pati, Paul and Lisa teach kids with a smile

Originally published Saturday, December 4, 1999

By JON HAHN  
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

Make no mistake about it: The Pike Market Child Care and Preschool is a serious enterprise for its staff of 15 big people and 46 2- to 6-year-olds. But the nucleus of the Monday-through-Friday what's happeningness is a triumvirate of lead teachers who are a combination of Winken, Blinken and Nod and Larry, Curly and Mo.

Lisa Robesch, Paul Golden and Pati Meyer head the teaching teams for the 2- and 3-year-old Blue Skies, 3- and 4-year-old Moon Beams and the 4-, 5- and 6-year-old Rainbow Birds, respectively.

Robesch, Golden and Meyer -- 27, 36 and 46, respectively -- probably give out more hugs each working day than a department-store Santa. And each is a college student as well, specializing in early childhood education. Some of that you can learn in college. But a whole lot you learn right here, in the 6,000 square feet the unique school has leased from the Market since 1982.

Golden, whose flowing brown hair is constantly being stroked, braided or arranged by the little people who use his lanky frame as a gym set, has a ready explanation for his laid-back demeanor in a setting that would drive some adults up a wall.

"There are darn few jobs where you can walk in every Monday morning and everyone wants to give you a hug!"

Meyer says she and the other big people are big on "hugs, kisses and Band-Aids." And to make it all work, "you have to get down on eye-level with the children and practice listening. You can learn a lot from children if you listen instead of giving orders."

Robesch, an Evergreen College graduate who has worked with children from Denmark to Moscow to Juanita, reflects: "It's like coming to work in a classroom of friends. Every one is different, with his or her own personality, so that could mean obvious conflict. But we teach, and we learn both self-respect and respect for others."

Along with assists from teaching aides, volunteer parents and grandparents, the Lisa, Pati & Paul show plays every weekday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with breakfast, lunch, snacks and, of course, naps thrown in. And every day, rain or shine -- after all, this is Seattle -- there is outside play in a pocket playground beneath the back steps of Pike Place Market, overlooking Western Avenue and Elliott Bay.

That makes for a long day for some of the children, who are here as many as 10 hours, and for big people, who must dash from their teaching jobs to full-time classes to learn how to be better teachers. But Meyer, Golden and Robesch all concede that their respective salaries are among the best in the area (from $8 to $12 hourly), plus benefits such as sick days, hospitalization and medical, vision and dental insurance and college tuition subsidies.

Golden, an Oregon native, was a college dropout who survived his first half-dozen years in Seattle by washing dishes. And he had never, ever changed a diaper before a part-time job at the Market became a full-time teaching position.

Meyer, who waitressed her way from California to Alaska in her previous life, now treats her young charges to candlelight lunches with Mozart in the background and gratitude foremost. A scholarship student at North Seattle Community College, Meyer explains that she learns from the children as well.

"They teach me how to be a better listener in my everyday life," said the emotive Pati, who sometimes does ersatz pratfalls to make a point with her young pupils. "We have to learn to listen, and also not to be afraid of expressing our feelings. When you're small, you are a bundle of feelings, but you don't always know how to express them. It helps to use your sense of humor."

If you're teaching youngsters how to deal with their feelings, you have to be honest about your own. "And when I lost my dad, or my cat, I was able to share my feelings with the children here," she said.

These are children from all walks of life -- a founding aim of the program still is to serve low-income families downtown -- but they are still children, just starting to learn. "I feel pretty good if I know that one of them has just done his first somersault, or another one tied her shoes all by herself for the very first time," Golden said.

For Meyer, another perk is bringing her class to a level where "we have discussions on how best to do things. Maybe there's a small debate on what music to play, but by the springtime, the children will be calling their own little 'community meetings' to discuss problems we might be having, and using terms such as 'natural consequences'!"

And Robesch reflects: "They are really little people with different personalities, and they're amazing when you see them learn how to work or play with one another. You are giving them the tools to deal with life."

So they are asked, for example, how they feel about a proposed high-rise hotel between their school overlooking Western Avenue and Elliott Bay. Homer's paper says: "Hotel will have the park as its back yard. We play there." Another drawing is captioned: "I want to be able to sea the sea-life in that area -- Kyle."

So yes, there are tears here, as well as laughter. And there are noise levels approaching those in the Market's commercial areas upstairs. But mostly, in this two-flat of togetherness, there is the bustling business of learning colors, counting and the concepts of working and playing together. And anyone who thinks this is just glorified baby-sitting has never heard a 4-year-old say "natural consequences" as if he or she means it.