my horribly frustrating, yet strangely comical day at work..
.. or as i like to call it, the workday from HELL.
you're probably thinking, "it can't be that bad...." well, perhaps after you read this (and i will try to keep it as short as possible), you will realize that, yes, it really actually was that bad.
it started out just like any other day, the kids were being cute and playing nicely. amy came for music, they ate snack right afterward.. all was well in little preschool land.. but then it came time to go outside. elliott decided he wasn't going to put on his socks or shoes, and chose to sit on the bench inside the entire time, which we knew would result in an inevitable tantrum when the other kids started coming back in and he realized he really wasn't going outside. while we were outside, some of the kids started rubbing leftover snow all over the slide, which caused allison to start crying and screaming hysterically, because she wanted to slide down the slide, but couldn't because her butt would get wet. after about twenty minutes we came inside, and witnessed the ultimate elliott meltdown. screaming, crying, pushing, kicking, etc.
circle time was a little better, but then came lunch. xahria was in a terrible mood, and was actually yelling at her friends not to talk to her. she got moved away from the table, to another part of the room, so she could eat her lunch by herself. allison wouldn't actually sit on her chair, she kept standing on it, and after several warnings, we finally just took the chair away, which of course resulted in another hysterical fit.
finally it was almost naptime. everyday before naptime, i take the kids into the bathroom to have them use the toilet and/or change pull-ups/diapers. its generally a pretty frustrating experience, because we're trying to get it done quickly so that we can get the kids settled down for nap, but of course the kids move slowly. today, however, was unlike anything i had ever seen before. especially when aliza came in. aliza's pull-up was dry, and after she used the toilet, i told her she needed to put the pull-up back on, and she refused. so i did what we do when any kid won't get their pull-up on.. i told her i was going to count to ten, and if she didn't have it on by the time i got to ten, i would just put her in a diaper instead. i counted to ten (very slowly i might add), and aliza didn't move. she just stood there watching me. so i grabbed a diaper out of the cabinet, and went to go pick aliza up to put her on the table. that's when she actually ran from me. i ran after her, picked her up, and managed to get a diaper on her, but not without hearing her cry and scream louder than allison and elliott combined.
eventually, all the kids were done in the bathroom, and it was time to try and help shelly get them to sleep. this is usually a time where the kids are lying quietly on their mats, with the exception of allison, who is usually kicking her legs, rolling around on her mat, messing with her blankets, and making these weird breathing/growling noises.. but today she reached an entirely new level of ridiculousness when she took her socks off her feet, put them on her hands, and started playing with them.. yeah.
but the real icing on the cake came while shelly and i were writing in the kids' notebooks. two girls from the big preschool next door came into our room, and when we asked what they needed, they both said, "stella's sick". then we heard laura (one of the big preschool teachers) call out for help, so we ran over to see what was going on, only to find stella crying, and puke all over the floor. and guess who got to wipe up all the puke? that's right, yours truly..
thankfully, the rest of the afternoon went by pretty quickly, and without any major incidents. noa dropped her hairclip in the toilet (which i had to fish out of course), elliott had another major meltdown, xahria lost her mittens, and aliza banged her chin pretty hard, but all of those things seemed pretty minor in comparison to the rest of the day. all i can say is that there's no way that tomorrow could be worse than today, because i think today might have been the absolute worst it could get in the world of little preschool.
so there you go. now my stomach hurts and i'm actually sleepy so i'm going to bed and putting an end to this day. goodnight!
you're probably thinking, "it can't be that bad...." well, perhaps after you read this (and i will try to keep it as short as possible), you will realize that, yes, it really actually was that bad.
it started out just like any other day, the kids were being cute and playing nicely. amy came for music, they ate snack right afterward.. all was well in little preschool land.. but then it came time to go outside. elliott decided he wasn't going to put on his socks or shoes, and chose to sit on the bench inside the entire time, which we knew would result in an inevitable tantrum when the other kids started coming back in and he realized he really wasn't going outside. while we were outside, some of the kids started rubbing leftover snow all over the slide, which caused allison to start crying and screaming hysterically, because she wanted to slide down the slide, but couldn't because her butt would get wet. after about twenty minutes we came inside, and witnessed the ultimate elliott meltdown. screaming, crying, pushing, kicking, etc.
circle time was a little better, but then came lunch. xahria was in a terrible mood, and was actually yelling at her friends not to talk to her. she got moved away from the table, to another part of the room, so she could eat her lunch by herself. allison wouldn't actually sit on her chair, she kept standing on it, and after several warnings, we finally just took the chair away, which of course resulted in another hysterical fit.
finally it was almost naptime. everyday before naptime, i take the kids into the bathroom to have them use the toilet and/or change pull-ups/diapers. its generally a pretty frustrating experience, because we're trying to get it done quickly so that we can get the kids settled down for nap, but of course the kids move slowly. today, however, was unlike anything i had ever seen before. especially when aliza came in. aliza's pull-up was dry, and after she used the toilet, i told her she needed to put the pull-up back on, and she refused. so i did what we do when any kid won't get their pull-up on.. i told her i was going to count to ten, and if she didn't have it on by the time i got to ten, i would just put her in a diaper instead. i counted to ten (very slowly i might add), and aliza didn't move. she just stood there watching me. so i grabbed a diaper out of the cabinet, and went to go pick aliza up to put her on the table. that's when she actually ran from me. i ran after her, picked her up, and managed to get a diaper on her, but not without hearing her cry and scream louder than allison and elliott combined.
eventually, all the kids were done in the bathroom, and it was time to try and help shelly get them to sleep. this is usually a time where the kids are lying quietly on their mats, with the exception of allison, who is usually kicking her legs, rolling around on her mat, messing with her blankets, and making these weird breathing/growling noises.. but today she reached an entirely new level of ridiculousness when she took her socks off her feet, put them on her hands, and started playing with them.. yeah.
but the real icing on the cake came while shelly and i were writing in the kids' notebooks. two girls from the big preschool next door came into our room, and when we asked what they needed, they both said, "stella's sick". then we heard laura (one of the big preschool teachers) call out for help, so we ran over to see what was going on, only to find stella crying, and puke all over the floor. and guess who got to wipe up all the puke? that's right, yours truly..
thankfully, the rest of the afternoon went by pretty quickly, and without any major incidents. noa dropped her hairclip in the toilet (which i had to fish out of course), elliott had another major meltdown, xahria lost her mittens, and aliza banged her chin pretty hard, but all of those things seemed pretty minor in comparison to the rest of the day. all i can say is that there's no way that tomorrow could be worse than today, because i think today might have been the absolute worst it could get in the world of little preschool.
so there you go. now my stomach hurts and i'm actually sleepy so i'm going to bed and putting an end to this day. goodnight!