10:39 a.m. - 2006-11-30
woo-hoo, high five...and poop!
Yesterday at Pre-school, the "lead teacher" didn't show up. She is supposed to come a half hour early and stay and haf hour later for lesson planning and such. The thing is, when you have three hours to kill with twelve or so 4 year olds, the key is a schedule. 15 minutes of free time. Breakfast. 15 minutes of songs. 15 minutes of organized games. 15 minutes of free time. 15 minutes of learning the letter "C". 15 minutes of storytime. 15 minutes of free time. Snack.
When the lead teacher doesn't show up, there is no plan. There is only Miss Jessi at a total loss and trying to make free time stretch out WAY longer than it can without resulting in fighting, crying and other side effects of boredom. Breakfast, I could do. But songs? I don't know any songs. I know Shoop by Salt N' Pepa. MM-mm-mm wanna getcha; betcha bottom dolla you are best under press-ah! Ummm....noooo.
Even worse than figuring out how to keep them busy was figuring out how to take them to the bathroom. Normally there are two of us thee and we just take turns. Now, they are all able to use the toilet; we just have to hang out outside the stall, and make sure they wash their hands when they're done. How do you supervise the rest of them when one has to potty? My best guess involved a lot of running back and forth. Run down the hallway with little person who has to potty. Run back to check on the crew. Run down the hallway to make sure little person has not fallen into toilet. Run back to check on the crew. Stop Gina from pulling Erin's hair. RUn back to supervise hand washing.
I got my system down. Then Pete had to go to the bathroom. I did my little run back and forth thing and when I returned to the stall, I said "You ok in there?" And here was the reply:
"Yeah. Now I need wiped."
WIPED?
Ummm. This was not covered in my oreintation.
See, I have changed my share of diapers. I do not have a problem with this. But a four year old is like, more like a person than a baby. So, basically, I had to wipe the bum of a person I barely know. Props to the nursing assistants of long term care facilities around the world. Ugh.
Of course, I rolled up my sleeves and gamely went for it with a half roll of toilet paper balled up in my hand. I hope I "got" it all. I'd hate to be responsible for a rash. Shudder.
The good news is I have another interview set up. This one is for TODAY. The two jobs I am interviewing for in the next few days are two that I am really excited about. Both are director-level positions coordinating youth programs at non-profits. Just what I've been looking for. Keep your fingers crossed.
On another note, I would like to mention that I have been noticing some on daytime talk shows as of late. The awkward high five. See, what happens, is that someone like Rachel Ray or Rosie O'Donnell on The View gets overly enthusiastic and initiates a high five. Nothing wrong with that. But it seems like one person usualy goes for the quick "slap and withdraw" and the other person goes for the "Slap and interlock fingers ending in a playful hand holding." Either works as long as you're on the same page, but they never are! What happens is that the person going with the latter version sort of end up grabbing onto the other person's hand as they were about to yank their hand away, resulting in a jarring, awkward motion, pulling both off balance and they are both forced to just laugh in a "woo, that was FUN" way until somone segways into the next topic. "ha hah hahah ha ha...soo...you have a new movie coming out...."
I propose a memo to the entire entertainment industry. Always go with the "slap and withdraw." See, these people manage to be able to pull off a cool high five in a movie or video, but live television throws them off. It's simply an issue of consistency, people.
