What a difference a day makes...

...or a week, as it is in my case!

Last week was my first week back to work, and I was really looking forward to a 3-day work week. As it turns out it was a great week (with 5 very sweet kids), and I have to admit I did sleep most of Monday and Friday! It was so nice to put the kids on the 7:15 bus (yes, that would be AM) and go back to bed!!

Sidebar: That aforementioned 7:15 bus takes the kids a whopping 2 miles!! And the first bell doesn't ring until 8:15...What the heck, man...Why so early???

Anyway, as the title says, "What a difference a day makes...". (Does anybody else remember that song?? Was it from a commercial or something?? Help me out here, people.) So, I got the call yesterday (Monday #2 of the school year...and, yes, I was asleep when the call came!) asking if I still wanted to teach 5 days a week. Well, here's where I was really torn in my response. The additional pay of a 5-day week versus a 3-day week is awesome and, as it happens, very necessary...BUT (sorry, can't have a post without one of those pesky "buts"), I was totally enjoying the whole Mon./Fri. spent in pajamas. (Okay I know, I always run around in my "pajamas"...just a technicality for lack of better words) Last year I taught 5 days and LOVED it, but that was all I knew. This year started as only 3 days, and I will admit that it was kind of cool.

Okay okay, enough of me typing out my internal mental issues regarding the school week and back to the topic at hand...

So as I was saying, "What a difference a day makes...". Today started week #2 of my school year, and I had a room full...and when I say full, I mean FULL...of 3 year old boys and girls. Last week's group more than doubled, and I now find myself responsible for 11 children each day. I couldn't be more thrilled that these parents entrust their children's care, development, early education, etc. to me, but...holy cow...what a complete change! I know I will get used to the larger group, and I have already adjusted my lesson plans for the next couple weeks to allow for the change. (I think it's necessary for the kids and for me too, to have a bit more time getting used to the class, the larger group, the new rules and new routines.) So, here's how my day went:

• My original 5 kids were highly confused as to the sudden influx of extra little bodies.
• The new ones were thrilled to find new toys to play with...and perhaps highly confused as to the sudden change in environment.
• There were 2 children that I was completely in the dark about when/if they were going to start.
• There was one VERY new student who didn't want Mommy & Daddy to leave and made it very clear (very loudly clear) to the whole school.
• My group time (or circle-time, as I call it) started 40 minutes later than I prefer, and many representations of mass chaos occurred during this time.
• The kids all LOVED snack time, and I think it was the only time all day they were all in one place at one time!
• I think I cleaned 48 runny noses, wiped 87 dirty hands and faces, hugged 24 sad/upset/angry/confused/happy/cute/injured kids, and thought, "What the heck was I thinking?" about 942 times...And, this is just the first day of my newly enlarged class size.

So, I won't continue to bore you with the minutia of my day; however, I do have some major gripes on the day...

If you tell me your child is potty trained, please explain to me why they will crap in their underwear within minutes of exiting the bathroom...And, if said child is truly trained, explain why that child feels the need to completely strip down (shorts, underwear, socks and shoes) in an effort to clean themselves, without telling me they need help...And, please explain to me why this same "potty trained" child then proceeds to dump the crap into the toilet, flush the toilet, then "wash" the crappy underwear in the toilet...And, tell me why this same child proceeds to run out of the bathroom into the classroom naked from the waist down and start playing with the toys...

Oh, but the real laughter and shock value didn't come until said child turned around and proudly displayed a trail of toilet paper stuck in the butt-crack...

Oh yes, any of you who have ever spent more than 2 minutes around a young child understand how hard it is to control laughter in front of such impressionable young minds. Well, let me tell ya, this was not one of those moments of contained laughter. It was just so freakin' funny to see a kid running around half naked with a string of TP hanging like some sort of fancy train - you know, like on a wedding dress...

I can honestly say it is a first for me, and I have raised 2 boys through massive potty training issues. I have spent time around many other children in that age group, whether it be family, friends or students. And, I am so thankful the rest of my class was not in sight at the time...Can you imagine??? "Hey, mommy guess what? One of my new friends was playing with toys and had no clothes on...and they forgot to take off the toilet paper." Oh yeah, real nice image to send home, don't ya think???

I could go on and on, but I think that's a great place to end this particular post...

(No pun intended!)