Wednesday, October 1, 2008

curling up in the fetal position

around 8:15 today i decided it was time to go home. 7 hours later, when it was really time to go home, i had to give myself a pep-talk to even walk to my car. putting one foot in front of the other seemed too overwhelming by 3:10.

today was our last day with the kiddos before our 2 week intersession break. (have i ever mentioned that i love year-round schooling?) the kids were crazy, especially the kindergartners who have never been to intersession before and don't know what to expect. the teachers are overwhelmed with grading, getting report cards ready, scheduling conferences and getting everything in order for the 2 week break. everyone is tired and grouchy.

the recess queen was in full swing today. every time we turned away from him (even if only for a minute) he managed to do something completely off the wall and out of control. at one point when i redirected him away from the playdough center at free choice he shouted, "but i want the playdough!" and started shovelling pieces of it into his mouth as if to prove to me that he would get the playdough no matter what i did. at least it's nontoxic.

later, when the class was lining up to go home (i mean, we were almost finished with the day... we were so close) he decided he had to be the line leader. he ran up and pushed the other students out of the way and threw his body against the door. when i finally got him to sit back down he shouted, "ok! but you can't be the line leader!" on his way to his seat he got into a tussle with the kindergarten aide and he ended up shouting "you're not my friend!" at her. i couldn't help it, i burst out laughing. sometimes all you can do is laugh. sadly he continued to fight to be line leader, which involved a lot of screaming and and pushing the kindergarten aide. we don't pay them enough. and i have a headache.

i can't even put my finger on all the ways today completely overwhelmed me, but it did. tomorrow and friday we have all day parent conferences so i'm busy preparing my notes and hoping that i manage to speak coherently when talking to parents.

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