I was a substitute teacher in the morning for high school students and in the afternoon for second grade students. As you might guess, these are two very different (v. v. different!) groups. The high school students were reasonably cooperative and did what they needed to do with only a small amount of prodding. The second graders were very sweet and kind and did what they were supposed to do, too.
For the second night in a row, though, I'm more on edge than usual. Closing doors bother me. Footsteps bother me. The stupid cars with the stupid stereos that make all that stupid noise...they bother me, too.
This is the second day in a row that I've had elementary school children in my day. I wonder if it has to do with them. I heard my last name used more times today and yesterday than I have in YEARS. "Miss Parker? Miss Parker? Miss Parker? Can I Miss Parker? Do you Miss Parker?"
And it isn't a thing like, "I need to go to the bathroom, Miss Parker." It's more like, "Miss Parker! Miss Parker! I saw a cartoon yesterday! And it was really funny! And it had an animal in it! And it did this thing!"
Perhaps being a child is like being an exclamation point all the time. Everything is so very important and it has to happen right away. But there must also be a question mark, too. "Miss Parker! Do you have kids? Are you married? Do you have brothers and sisters? Where do you live? Where did you grow up? How old are you? Where else do you teach? Are you new around here? What are your brothers' names?"
It's very cute, actually. I think it might wear down my ability to deal with random noises and annoyances, though.
Oh! And two kids got heat stroke! One nearly passed out in the hallway. The nurse said she's seen him in worse shape. One kid got sympathetic heat stroke and got to go to the nurse. About four more were also sympathetic heat stroke victims, but not quite as good at acting. Then about half of them had mysterious ailments that they wanted to have take them to the nurse. "My throat hurts really bad! (Cough cough cough) I've got the worst headache I've ever had--right here and here. My ankles hurt. I don't know what's wrong with them. It's been happening for three weeks. (developing a limp) I have to go to the nurse right now! I got rug burn three days ago and it stings! My band aid fell off and it hurt."
I'm a bit puzzled by most of these phenomena. I guess I'm mostly mystified that we all have to go through these stages of growing up in order to get grown up enough to not understand what it was like to be that way. And how is it that problems seemed so huge and yet the nurse was able to make it all better with an ice pack?
My roommate in college, TheGirlWithTheHair, had "two sizes fit all" advice from her mother:
1. Take a nap.
2. Let it soak.
If we add "3. Get an ice pack from the nurse" we should be in good shape.
This chicky is going to go let it soak and then take a nap. And maybe check in with the nurse and get some ice cubes, just to make it all okay.
All will be sweetness and light in the morning.
Posted by dotty at June 8, 2005 09:44 PM