Now that wasn't so bad...

...for a Monday! Today was almost pleasant even! Again, I had 5 kids out, leaving me with 20 little darlings. My good buddy, TN, actually fell asleep at rest time, which gave me about 45 minutes of peace. It helped that the other PITA, AM, was out today. Last Friday, TN was out, so I only had to deal with AM. It was really nice of them to trade off like that, wasn't it?

It just occurred to me that I haven't really posted about TN, have I? I think last week was the first time I mentioned him. Because I keep such long and detailed anecdotal records about him, I think I mistakenly thought I had been sharing all these things with you guys. Obviously, I haven't, but I'll have to share the details another day. I just don't have the energy tonight. Let me just reiterate, he makes last year's Twin Boy look like an angel!!

The reason I'm drained tonight is because I had to make an unexpected trip downtown this afternoon after school. I had been told that I could fax an unofficial copy of my transcripts to my new school, then send them the official (sealed) copy later through the mail. Well, for the hell of it, I called the university this afternoon from school to check on how that worked, and to let them know I'd be faxing my transcripts from school. The lovely woman I spoke to informed me that, yes, I can fax first, then mail the others, however the official transcripts had to be there TODAY by midnight. WTF?!?! Thank GOD I called this afternoon, or I would have really screwed the whole thing up. (I would have had to wait 5 weeks for the next session to start, which wouldn't be so bad, except that Nov. 1 tuition goes up by $2,000, and I certainly couldn't let THAT happen!!)

My only option was to drive the official transcripts to their office downtown. Oh, joy. Getting there wasn't so bad. I was able to get downtown in about 15 minutes from school, but then I drove around for nearly half an hour just to find somewhere to park. If you're at all interested in the latest parking meter fiasco here in ChiTown, go here. I finally found a metered spot, put my $3.50 in the machine (for the first hour!!) and started hauling ass to the building, 3 blocks away. I was trying to hurry because I was hoping to beat the rush hour traffic. Yeah...not so much... I took me about an hour to get home.

The good news is that I was in and out of the office in less than 10 minutes. The bad news is I was supposed to bring a copy of my teaching certificate with me. Crap!! The woman I talked to never told me that! Luckily, the man I spoke to in the office told me I could email a copy to them. But, of course, it had to get there BEFORE MIDNIGHT! I was so irritated be the time I got home, I just wanted to lie down. Unfortunately, I had to get right online and send in the certificate, as well as the payment agreement. After a very frustrating half hour of not being able to figure out how the freak to send a copy of my damn certificate, Stud finally came and showed my how to take a screen shot of the certificate, and then attach it to an email. I just hope they get everything in time. The one nice thing about email is that you have an automatic "receipt" of sending things in your sent file.

OK, I've finished my bitching for the night. Dancing with the Stars is starting, so I need to go!

Is it over already?

For some reason, I had 6 babies out today. Can you see how broken up I am about that? I only had 20 kids for the day. It was AWESOME!!! We got so much done today, it was ridiculous. Actually, yesterday was another great day, as I only had 22 there. It's amazing how much teaching/learning can actually happen when I don't have to spend every minute asking someone to sit down/be quiet/stop touching your neighbor/stop singing/stop jumping....you get the idea.

One of the best things about today (oh, I'm going to burn in hell....) is that TN was out. I know I haven't really posted about him, but he has been my biggest challenge this year. I have an entire notebook filled with anecdotal records about him already, and it's only the 8th week of school. He makes last year's Twin Boy look like an absolute ANGEL! More about him later.

I think one of the reasons so many kids have been out this week is because we've been sending home medical exclusion letters since before the fall intersession. These are given to children who are out of medical compliance (e.i. Their shots/physicals aren't up to date) This Thursday, October 15, was supposed to be the deadline for getting this taken care of, and if they don't, the children can NOT come to school until it's done. Well, some of the parents must not have understood the letter, because I think they've been keeping their kids home since they received the letter.

Normally, the parents just ignore the letters, and send their kids anyway. At least they try to send them. New Principal insists that she's going to strictly enforce the exclusion policy. If that happens, I'll seriously only have less than 10 kids in my class next week! Out of the 34 children I originally had on my list, only 8 didn't get a letter!!! EIGHT!! What I want to know is, how in the HELL were these children allowed to register for kindergarten without showing proof of the required physical?! WTF!? New Principal asked me the same thing when I told her how many of mine received letters. She was NOT happy, and asked me what the hell was wrong with the office staff. I must admit, it made me giggle a little.

Next week is going to be a short week for the kids, as Friday is a staff development day. I hope it goes by as quickly as this week did!!

At this very moment...

...four girls are playing a game of Candyland.

...Twin Boy is making an AB pattern with counting bears.

...two boys are playing with Bristle Blocks.

...David and a friend are playing with dominoes and counting bears, using a ruler as a diving board for the bears, who are jumping into a domino pool.

...a table full of babies are all making a card for J.K.'s momma, who is having a birthday today.

...two boys are playing with Tinker Toys.

...D.B. and another boy are playing with a phonics game, and I swear I saw D.B. talk!!! (This one is my favorite observation!)



Ok, ok, I know I'm supposed to be packing up my room, which is why the babies are doing centers, but I'm sitting here unable to stop watching my babies. MY babies. I'm so, so sad that this is my last day with them. I can't believe how much they've grown and matured in the last 10 months. It makes me so proud to see where they are now. Just the fact that they can quietly do centers, on their own, while I sit here and type, is amazing. There's no fighting, no yelling, nobody asking me "how do I do this?" etc. They have become the independent little buggers I've trained them to be all year.

I had actually intended to post about this a while ago. There have been several incidents over the past few weeks that made me step back and really look at how far the babies have come this year. I've always thought I had the best class in the school (which is what I say every year, but this year I REALLY mean it!!) and most of the staff would agree with me. I realize I sound like I'm tooting my own horn here, but I'm sorry, it's true. It's not like I have super powers or anything. It's called discipline, people!! (That was directed at the staff of the Hell-Hole, NOT my Bloggy Buddies, of course!) Ok, before I start getting up on my soapbox, I'd better move on...

I couple of weeks ago, I had an old friend visit, with a colleague of hers from the university where they both work. The ladies came to my room around 8:30, and we were still chatting away when my babies walked in at 9. Although I greeting them, and kept an eye on them, I didn't really interact that much with them. They went about their business, following the morning routine, just like they had for 160 days already. Chairs were taken down, book boxes placed on the tables, babies silently reading, etc. As I chatted with my visitors, I noticed that my friend's friend kept looking around the room and watching my babies as we talked. After about 10 minutes she said to me, "Are they ALWAYS this good?!" She was simply amazed at how "well trained" they were, how well behaved they were, and how they followed our routine without any prompting from me. As she was talking, I realized, "Hey, yeah, they really ARE wonderful at this, aren't they?" I guess I just took it for granted, since that's what they're supposed to do.

When the "pledge bell" rang, they continued to follow the routine - books back in the boxes, captains put the boxes away, stand up, push in your chair, get ready to say the pledge. My friends followed the babies' lead, and did all the opening exercises with them. It was a very proud moment for this Mother Hen!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had to step out of the room numerous times to speak to another teacher, or run to the office, whatever. I am perfectly comfortable leaving my babies for a few minutes, without worrying that something will happen. On a few occasions, someone has walked in looking for me, only to find my babies quietly doing whatever task I left them to do. More than one of those people came to find me specifically to tell me how impressed they were with my babies. All of them said they assumed I was in the room somewhere because the babies were so good. Talk about a feather in my cap!! Most of the time, when I walk back in, they are all on task, quietly doing whatever it is I asked them to do before I walked out. It seriously makes me want to shout out, "I LOVE YOU GUYS!" every time it happens. (They are always rewarded with "table points" on our chart, sometimes several points per table.)

Anyway, I just wanted to brag about my babies for a minute, and say how very, very, VERY much I'm going to miss them. I suppose I should get back to work now, huh? sigh...

It's Spirit Week!

Today was such a fun day. It was the first day of Spirit Week! Today was Sports Day. I'm afraid that because of the field trip last Friday, I didn't do an adequate job of reminding the babies about today, and only a handful dressed. (And, on a weird note, I had 6 babies out today. That's 1/4 of my class!) But, the ones that dressed looked cute. Twin Boy and Twin Girl were my favorites. He wore a "football shirt" and carried a little, soft football toy, and she wore a cheerleader outfit and carried pom-poms. Too cute! (I have to come back and write some more about the Twins later...) Naturally, I wore my Cubs visor and jersey :)

I went above and beyond what I normally do for Sports Day, but that's partially because I only had to worry about my own babies. The other kindergarten class has been doing their own thing all year, and don't see any reason to change things now. I did, however, tell the other teacher about Spirit Week, and even gave her a copy of the letter I sent home so she could do the same with her kids, but I'm pretty certain she didn't.

Anyway, I wanted to do a little something extra for them this year, because I seriously LOVE my class this year, and I kind of let myself go overboard. I thought I would teach them "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and then serve peanuts and Cracker Jack as a snack. Well, from there, it snowballed into bringing in my crock pot and making hot dogs and bringing in my air popper for popcorn, too. I even bought little popcorn bags and hot dog trays. I bought the dogs, paper products and a bunch of other stuff at GFS. (Do you guys all have these where you live?)

The longer I walked around that place, the more I saw to buy. Tomorrow is Crazy Hat/Hair Day. I was able to get a box of plain, white paper hats (like the kind cooks would wear) for the kids to decorate and make their own crazy hats. It's harder for the boys to participate in this one, since the girls can do silly things with their hair, so I always try to have extra hats with me on this day. But, now, they can all make their own.

I also bought a jug of gummy bears for Thursday's Teddy Bear Day. We're also going to have Teddy Grahams that day. We're going to have a Teddy Bear Tea that day, so we'll have the grahams and punch, and then later we're going to do some math with the gummy bears before we devour them. (I LOVE gummy bears!)

Wednesday is Mix 'N Match Day. The kids were told to wear the craziest clothes they can put together (like maybe a striped top with polka dot pants, or two different shoes and/or two different socks, etc.) I was having a hard time thinking of a snack for this day, and the best I could come up with is the trail mix I used to make last year with my babies. Toward the end of the year, Fridays became our Trail Mix Day, and those who had wonderful behavior all week were able to help me make what we called trail mix. I would buy a bag of mini-marshmallows, a bag of chocolate chips, a bag of white chocolate chips, a bag of pretzel rings, a canister of raisins and a can of nuts. (This was usually enough for a few week's worth of trail mix) Then the kids were allowed to add scoops of each to a big bowl, we would mix it all up, then enjoy our snack. The other kids had to just sit and watch us. I know, mean, right? Don't worry, they still had a snack, but it was whatever snack we got that day from the lunchroom. I'll tell you what, behavior surely improved once these Trail Mix Days started!

Anyway, that will have to do for Mix 'N Match Day. However, if any of my Bloggy Buddies have a suggestion, please give it to me! Friday is my favorite day of Spirit Week every year. It's Pajama Day!! We will also be having a pizza party, and probably cupcakes. Wait, maybe I should get Popsicles, just to keep the alliteration (pajamas, pizza, Popsicles). (tee hee, yes, I'm totally a geeky teacher!)

I'm still debating whether or not I should try and get a "themed" snack for tomorrow. What the hell would you get for Crazy Hat/Hair Day? The only thing I thought of was maybe Twizzlers Pull 'N Peel, because it could look like hair. Lame, I know. Normally, there aren't themed snacks during Spirit Week. This is the first year I've ever done it this way, so I don't have any previous years to go back to and reference. Again, if any of you have a suggestion, PLEASE share it!

Ok, time to go watch bad reality television. I'm embarrassed to say that I love the new ABC show, Here Come the Newlyweds. Night, night!

Wait, what was the point of this blog again?

Oh, yeah, school! OK, I've been downloading freakin' pictures for over an hour and a half. I HATE putting pictures on here because it takes so damn long!! As a matter of fact, I've only put about a third of the photos I planned to post, cuz I can't take it anymore. I'll come back tomorrow and post the rest. I figured out a while ago that Blogger posts photos in reverse order, so I've learned to post them in the opposite order from how I want them posted. I was working backwards from the pictures I took today, and had planned to go back to the beginning of February. Maybe tomorrow... Be sure to click on each picture to enlarge it, so you can really get all the details (AKA cuteness!!)

On the 100th Day of School, we put together a Word Worm with 100 words that we can read.

In March, I always have my babies make these lions and lambs for my March board. There were still a few drying, which is why the board looks a little bare.

As we do every year, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday. The hats came out really cute this year!

The babies are in the library in these photos. I was hoping to give you some idea of how sad our library is at the Hell-Hole. It's so small for a school library!

It isn't much bigger than a regular classroom.

Our librarian has been working really hard to get us some new books, but there's still a long way to go!

The books that are there look pretty good, though, right? Yeah, that would be cuz the kids aren't allowed to check them out!!!

Ah, but we DO have a big screen TV!! Of course! That's cuz the entire library curriculum is watching cartoons! I requested that they at least watch a Dr. Seuss movie on this day.

We made some Valentine people back in February. (I realize this is out of chronological order, but it's just too much of a pain to move it!!)

My girls are obsessed with these links! We take them out during math centers, and inevitably, they always use them to make jewelry. Oh, and crowns!!

Look at how they put them on their ears!! Ouch! They insist it doesn't hurt, but I don't know...

This is from a while ago (I think the date stamp says 2/19/09?) but I took the picture because it was so damn cute. It's a page from one of the babies' journals. When I was asking about the picture, I said, "Oh, is that the snow coming down?" referring to those squiggles. He said, "No, that's God, and he's sending down snow angels!" How freakin' cute is that!??

This was from the same day. This is Twin Boy's journal entry from that day. I could not stop laughing at this because it's a self portrait, and he drew himself so perfectly! He has a green coat, with a hood, and unfortunately, he usually has a sad face. :( But, if you ask, he'll say he isn't sad.

This is an actual note that I received from a parent. Um, WTF? Did somebody snack on the bottom of this paper, or did you pull it out of the garbage? And, apparently, she still doesn't know my name, despite the fact that her child has been in my room since September 5!!!

I couldn't resist taking this picture. This little darling always falls asleep during rest time. This day she somehow fell asleep with her legs up in the air!! How cute is she?! OK, this was exciting!! At some point, either at the beginning of this year, or the end of last year, we were told we could order some "stuff" for our classrooms. I vaguely remember ordering these electronic learning toys. Well, imagine my surprise when a BIG box of things was delivered to my room last week. The babies went ape shit nuts!! They were enthralled for nearly an hour and a half! And, they shared like little angels, working in pairs, with NO fighting, NO yelling, etc. I couldn't help but take their pictures.

OK, this was today. Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I always buy this mylar garland to make these "Leprechaun Prince and Princess Crowns." The babies always love them, and this year was no different. They left those things on ALL DAY!

Damn!! According to the time stamp, I started this freakin' post at 7:48, and it's now 10:21! Perhaps this is why I've been so sucky at updating lately.... Night night!

Has it really been a week?

I can't believe I let an entire week go by without a post. Shame on me!! I better get back on track, huh? I was so good last school year, and literally posted every single school day. Man, I've become such a slacker...


*****
Recent conversation:

Smart Boy: Mrs. L., Twin Boy keeps breathing by me!!!

Me: And....

Smart Boy: His breath STANKS!!

Me: Oh....hmmm....Twin Boy, did you remember to brush your teeth this morning?

Twin Boy: No. I don't have a toothbrush.

Me: (Trying to hide my shock/disgust) You don't have a toothbrush?!

Twin Girl: Yes he does! He just doesn't use it!

Me: (Now stifling a giggle) Ok....well, Twin Boy, you need to brush in the morning, ok? Twin Girl, maybe you can remind him.

Twin Girl just looked at him in disgust and turned around.


*****
When the babies finish their name papers, I let them turn them over and draw me a picture while the rest finish. Last week, naturally, all the babies had Halloween on the brain. On Thursday, David drew an awesome picture of three "things" that I thought were kids in Halloween costumes. When I asked him, he said, "No, those are monsters!" Then he went back to drawing. When it was time to clean up, he brought me his paper, and showed me what else he drew. "That's me. And those are the monsters, and I'm kicking their butts!" I gave him a 'look,' because I tend not to condone violence, but he thought the look was for something else. He looked panic-stricken and immediately says, "Oh, um, I mean I'm kicking their bottoms." It was hysterical!

*****
So, last Wednesday, Glasses decided to steal from me. He wouldn't be still or quiet during rest time, so I finally had to make him sit by the door (our naughty spot). Suddenly, I hear the sound of a bunch of 'things' hitting the floor. I look over at him, and I see a few of my counting bears on the floor. I asked, "Where did those come from?" and he just looks at me. I tell him to put them away, and go back and sit down. He does, and a few minutes later, the same thing happens. So I say, "Do you have my counting bears in your pockets?" He shakes his head. I tell him to come over to my desk, and I ask him again if he has my counting bears in his pockets. Again, he says no. So I tell him, "Come here, I want to check your pockets." Well, then he looked worried. Sure enough, he pocket was filled with my counting bears! Ugh! I wanted to smack him!! Not so much for taking the bears (he certainly isn't the first to do that, and he won't be the last) but for lying right to my face about it! There is NOTHING I hate more than lying. NOTHING! I let him have it, telling him, among other things, that the next time he steals from me, I'll be calling the police. Then I sent him back to the door.

Forward to Friday (Halloween). Every Friday, the babies take their Treasure Test, which is simply a test on their sight words. The Treasure Words (sight words) are from our reading program. I don't like the way they introduce words because I think they go WAY too slow. We are now 10 weeks into school, and they are only expected to know 7 freakin' words!! But, I digress. If they can read all the Treasure Words to me on Friday, they get a treat. I always give them Smarties. (Smarties for my smarties!) There are a couple of kids who still haven't passed the test even once, despite there only being six words on the list up to that point. D.B. is one of those kids. Last week, I gave the babies two "bonus words," and told them that if they could read the bonus words, too, they would get an extra treat. OK, so D.B. comes over for his test. Up until this point, he's only been able to tell me "we." Well, he had obviously been working hard that week on his words, because he was able to read 5 out of the six words, and one bonus word!! I was shocked and thrilled! He finally earned his Smarties!

What the hell does all this have to do with Glasses you're wondering, right? Well, normally I give them their treats in the afternoon, but last Friday, we did our test before lunch since the rest of the day was going to be tied up with Halloween activities. When we were lining up for lunch, D.B. comes over and bangs on my arm, and says, "My candy." (If you're a regular reader, you'll know that's only the third time he's said more than one word at a time to me.) I figure out that he doesn't have his candy, so I ask, "Did someone pick up D.B.'s candy?" Nobody had it. I ask again, "Who has D.B.'s candy? It didn't just disappear." No one 'fesses up. I finally say, "We are NOT going to lunch until D.B. gets his candy back!" A couple of the babies say, "Glasses took it." So I ask him, "Do you have D.B.'s candy?" "No." I get closer to him. "Did you take D.B.'s candy?" Again, "No." "So, if I check your pockets right now, I'm not going to find his candy?" "No." I took a couple of steps toward him, and he knew I was going to check, so he says, "Well, maybe if somebody put it there." I seriously saw red!!! I had to stop myself from cracking him one! Naturally, the candy was in his pocket. My blood was seriously boiling. Again, it was more the lying RIGHT TO MY FUCKING FACE that bothered me than the stealing. Although, the stealing really pissed me off, too, because poor D.B. worked hard to earn that treat, and this little shit goes and steals it!! AAAUUUGGGHHH!! Naturally, Glasses is one of the three that hasn't learned his words yet. I really want to smack his parents for being so completely uninvolved with their child. Again, I digress...

I made him sit at the table with me during lunch, away from the rest of the babies. I already told him before we left the room that he would NOT be going to the parade, he would NOT be participating in the party, he would NOT be getting any treats, etc... On the way to the lunchroom, I brought him over to our security guard to ask her if she would keep him while the rest of us went to the parade, and she laid into him, too. She suggested we call the police. I said I was going to seriously think about it. On Friday, we have gym, so of course, I made him stay with the security guard while I took the rest of the class up to the gym. Then, while walking back down the four freakin' flights of stairs (!) I decided that I was just going to call his house and have him picked up. There was no reason for him to stay, since he was NOT going to be participating in ANY of the Halloween fun.

I called his home number, and got no answer. I called the emergency number, which I think was his aunt, and a woman answered. I told her who I was, and that I tried calling his mom, but there was no answer, and then asked if she had another number. She asked what number I called, and I told her, and she says, "Oh, that's the right number. As a matter of fact, I was just talking to her." So, I figure, that's why she didn't answer, she was on the other line. I thank the aunt, and tell her I'm going to call again. She says, "Oh, no, I'll call for you. If she sees it's the school, she won't answer." Of course!! Why would you answer if your child's school is calling? I mean, hell, your child could have been in a terrible accident or something, so why would you need to know that?! Ugh! Anyway, I tell the aunt the whole story and tell her to tell the mom that she needs to come get him right now. That was at 11:00. Guess who was still there at 2:45? Guess who had to sit in the naughty spot all freakin' day (because I couldn't send him to another classroom, since everyone was celebrating)? Guess who bugged me all afternoon, mostly because everytime I turned my back, he was poking his head around the corner and making faces at the rest of the class? Eh....alright, ChiTown, let it go, it was days ago.... Glasses didn't come to school yesterday, although I doubt it had anything to do with what happened on Friday. Guess who didn't really care, and just enjoyed a day without Glasses? Now guess who is on the express train to hell for feeling that way about a little boy? Just trying to keep it real....

Wow, I guess this saga makes up for a week of no posts, huh? I'm gonna let you off the hook, and not write anymore tonight. I think my son and I are going to have a movie night, since the only thing on TV right now is all election related, and I can't take anymore!

Next Season on Dancing with the Stars...

(Thanks, Bro, for emailing me this! It made me laugh out loud!)

The past few days have been so unbelievably sad, that I wanted to take a mental break for something silly and light-hearted. (Isn't Photoshop amazing?)

Yesterday, I sent Twin Boy home with a note because he had such a GREAT day! He kept his hands and feet to himself all day, he was pretty quiet for the most part, and he did just about everything I asked of him. The rest of the babies noticed it too, just like last time, and they all had to high-five him at the end of the day. He was beaming!! This morning, his dad brought him, and I asked if he saw the note. He did, and I told him how proud I was of Twin Boy, and Twin Boy assured me that today would be a great day, too. Yeah....well.....not so much.

I had to send him back to his seat during calendar time because he absolutely would NOT stop touching the kids around him. When we were ready to go on to some counting activities (about 5 minutes later) I told the group to hold on a minute because I wanted Twin Boy to come back, because "he's so good at this game." He came back, sat right next to me, and then started to cry. Not loud, disruptive crying, but just big, sad tears rolling down his chubby cheeks. I wish I knew what was going through his head at that particular moment. Was he feeling bad for disrupting our calendar time? Was he embarrassed? Was he moved because I said he was good at the game? I truly wish I knew what it was that made him cry.

Twin Boy is also back to all the disgusting nose-digging again!! Ugh!!! I think he does it just to set off the others, because they all start yelling, "Twin Boy is digging in his nose!" I can't stand it. It's absolutely revolting. Between his nose and his ears, that boy digs more than a miner! Ick! I know it sounds mean, but that's what keeps me from hugging him more. I just don't want him touching me with those hands, I'm sorry.

The babies have been busy making Halloween projects. I finally remembered to take my camera to school today to show you what they've been up to. I may just take some close-ups tomorrow to you can see them in detail. I cut out the scarecrows, but they cut out their own witches. The pumpkin lanterns were all them, except that I stapled them together. There's something about little kids' arts and crafts that touches me somewhere deep inside. I think it's because they aren't afraid to truly express themselves creatively yet. I love it!

OK, this has nothing to do with school, but I have to show these pictures to somebody! Last Friday, I picked up my son and his best friend from school, and then we all came here. Long story short, his buddy never went home, and spent the night. (Not an unusual occurrance.) The next morning, I went down in the basement to do some laundry, and saw this. (That's my gorgeous new bamboo floor in the basement, by the way. Don't you love it!?)

I was cracking up!! It was like looking at a father and son's shoes. Oh, wait! I just remembered that you saw my son and his best friend's picture together from homecoming. It's so funny to me that they are so different in size. His buddy is just now wearing clothes I handed down to him in about 4th or 5th grade. My son refers to his buddy as "Mini Me" sometimes, which cracks us all up.

OK, I gotta run because Dancing with the Stars is on, and I'm waiting to hear that Cloris Leachman is leaving tonight. Good Lord, it had BETTER be her!! I'm so glad Carrie Anne (I haven't a clue how she actually spells her name) finally said what the rest of us were thinking last night. You go, Girl! Ugh, it's time for Michael Flatley (again, no idea how to spell that) is about to perform. Maybe this is a good time to run downstairs and do some laundry...

While I'm waiting...

...for my son to finish carving a pumpkin, let me quickly jot down a couple of things I've been meaning to share this week. On Tuesday, I had to cut the nails of two of my boys. Twin Boy was one of them. He had the longest, most disgusting nails going on, and he had started using them to hurt the other babies. He actually took a big gouge out of his sister's nose on Monday, and I told both of them to tell their mother that Twin Boy couldn't come back the next day if his nails weren't cut. Well, how shocking that he came back on Tuesday with his claws intact. So, I cut them!! It was nauseating, as they were caked with dirt and who the hell knows what else he dug out of his nose and ears (ok, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth!).

The other boy, A.B., just got glasses this week, so I'll be referring to him as Glasses from now on. This is the second time I've had to freakin' cut Glasses' nails!! WTF?! The first time I did it, it was because he took a chunk out of his own finger with his long nails. This time, I just couldn't stand to look at them another second. There was enough dirt under them to plant a vegetable patch! Ick! I asked him why he didn't ask his mom to cut them (like I told him to last week!) and he said that his mom didn't have any nail clippers. I was tempted to send some home, and I still may do so. Better yet, maybe I'll just hand them to her at report card pick-up day. If she shows up, that is.

Glasses also showed up Monday with a HUGE lip. It was unreal. I asked him what happened, and at first he said he didn't know. So I asked him again, and he said, "Somebody busted me in my mouth." Well, no shit, Sherlock! I asked him who, but he said he didn't know. Huh? I asked a couple more times, almost expecting/hoping he'd say it was one of his parents (I was already imagining the field day I would have with the DCF worker, spilling the beans about the long, dirty nails, the dirty face, hands, clothes, etc. But, then I came back to reality...) and he just kept saying he didn't know who. I had every intention of taking a picture of his lip, just in case I needed it later, but I didn't have my damn camera with me. Shoot! Now, don't get me wrong, I don't for one minute wish child abuse upon him, but if that's what is happening, I would surely want to step in and protect him. I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on Glasses....

I got yet another student yesterday. At least it's a girl, so my unbalanced class is just a tad bit closer to being balanced (9 girls, 14 boys) Yeah, right! So far, she seems like a sweetheart. The poor thing has been putting up with me butchering her name for two days. Needless to say, she has one of those very "creative" invented names, and I can't for the life of me remember it!!

OK, Sonny Boy is finished, and we're off to his old school for the Halloween Dance. I'll finish up when I get home!

Random-ness, continued...

Here are a few things I've been meaning to post about this week. Somehow, it became Thursday night and I realized I haven't posted anything about the babies.

Monday, one of my babies, let's call him Pretty Boy, was absent. When he came back on Tuesday, I noticed his hair was beautifully (and freshly!) braided. I asked him why he wasn't in school the day before and he just kinda shrugged, and had this cute little confused smile. I asked, "Were you sick?" Shrug, with a goofy little grin. Then I say, "Wow, your hair looks nice! Wait, did you stay home yesterday to get your hair done?" Suddenly his face lights up, and he proceeds to tell me all about how he spent his day getting his hair done, complete with all the details (where he went, who did it, etc.) Now, you can see for yourself how cute he is (sort of) but really, how screwed up are his mother's priorities!!? You keep your child out of school for a day to get his hair done?! Why didn't you do it over the weekend, or after school? Screwed up, right?

Same morning, Twin Boy and Twin Girl come in, hang up their things, then come to their table to read. As Twin Boy was turning around to talk (surprise, surprise, since it's SILENT reading time!) I see this:

Apparently, he decided to give himself a haircut the night before, at least according to Twin Girl. As of today, it still looks like this. I don't know if this is Dad's way of punishing him, or what, but I can't believe his parents didn't just shave his whole head by now.

OK, so the other day, I was out shopping and picked these little babies up for myself: An hour later, I had this:Let me apologize now to all of you out there who actually know how to crochet and/or knit. I know this piece is horrific, with it's inconsistent tension and stitches. Sorry. But, hey, I'm tryin'! I actually learned how to knit and crochet when I was a child, and I used to love to do it. I never really made anything of any substance, just a couple of granny squares and bookmarks, but it was fun, nonetheless. Anyway, now my old, stiff fingers are having a much rougher time than my young, supple fingers did. It's still fun, though. I'm hoping this ends up to be something like a scarf. I'll let you know...

Finally, the other day, I had to run out for something, and when I rounded the corner of the house to the driveway, I was struck by the most beautiful sunset. These pictures don't show a fraction of the beauty I saw, but these were the only pictures I could get of the sky through my neighbor's tree. Still awesome!

Happy Birthday, A.G.!

The baby from my favorite family, The G Family, turned 5 today. I just realized that I haven't written about this, so bear with me. You may remember the G Family from many of my posts. The youngest has been in my classroom since school started. On the first day of work, I saw her name on my roster, which I thought was strange since I knew she wasn't really old enough to be in Kindergarten. Here in Chicago, you must be 5 by Sept. 1 to start kindergarten, and obviously she just turned 5 today. But, I decided not to say anything because I was perfectly happy to have her in my class. On the first day of school, I saw Mrs. G. and told her that A was on my roster, and she was just as excited as I was. Well, two days later, as I was swiping in, Mrs. J. in the office told me that central office sent a notice telling her that A wasn't old enough to be in my room. It also caught another little boy, D.F., who is the grandson of our security guard. I was so upset that they were going to be pulled from my class. They are both such dolls!!

Mrs. G. was so excited that first day when I told her I would leave A in my room, because that meant that all three of her kids would be in school full-time. She immediately started talking about getting a part-time job, and I was so happy for her. Then, boom, I had to tell her about this. But, I immediately told her that I would be willing to keep A with me in the morning, since the 4 year old preschool was in the afternoon. At first she was hesitant because she didn't want me to be "stuck" with A, but I insisted. Plus, in my eyes, the biggest benefit for A would be that we do all of our literacy work in the morning, so she'd be getting all the "good stuff" from kindergarten.

Mrs. T., our security guard, was also called in that morning to let her know that her grandson couldn't stay in kindergarten, either. She was really upset. Last year, D spent his mornings in the 3 year old class, but then spent all afternoon sitting next to his grandma's desk. Sometimes someone was able to come pick him up, but many days, he just sat there for over 3 hours. Poor baby! This year, his mom has a job, so there would be no one to come get him. His grandma was so upset. She didn't want him to have to do that again. Of course, I made the same offer to her that I made to Mrs. G. It was even easier to make the offer to her because her grandson is one of the sweetest babies I've ever met!

So, back to the point...today Miss A. turned 5 (finally!) Mrs. G. brought us the most glorious cupcakes. I seriously wish I had taken a picture so you could see how delicioso they were. They were devil's food cake, topped with chocolate butter cream frosting, with an Oreo stuck into that. YUM! And, they tasted as good as they looked, which doesn't always happen.

How sad is it that I posted about a damn cupcake today? Maybe that's good because I really don't have a lot of complaining to do today. Twin Boy drove me crazy, and almost lost his cupcake, but of course, when it came down to treat time, I didn't have the heart to keep it from him. I told him he earned it back because he was so good during our fire drill. OOO!! That's what I should have been writing about. Something is wrong with our alarm system, and so we had an impromptu fire drill today. (Then the damn alarm proceeded to sound about 10 more times before school ended!) My babies made me SOOOO proud!! They walked (instead of ran!) and stayed perfectly quiet during the drill, despite the despicable behavior of the other kindergarten. (I've seriously been fighting myself everyday to NOT write about what a cluster fuck that room is becoming!!! Mrs. W. needs to go!! But, I'll refrain from going into it any further. At least today!) They really made me proud.

Welcome...

...to The Bus Driver. I discovered this blog a few weeks ago, and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it ever since. All of my friends in the education field should check it out, (as well as the rest of you!) because it's really interesting to see another point of view for what happens in our schools.

Just for the record, Twin Boy has been back to his old tricks again for the past two days. Ah, it was great while it lasted...Tuesday, the one boy who had asked to high five him the day before actually said something in the morning about how he hoped Twin Boy was going to have another good day. It was so precious. The morning was ok, but as the day went on, it got progressively worse. By the end of the day he was back to punching people. Today was a train wreck from start to finish. I can't even count how many times he hit someone, and he was disruptive all day. It was very difficult to get our lesson finished, because the other babies were having so much trouble hearing me. Plus, it's hard to concentrate on what The Queen is saying when there's a boy rolling on the floor, throwing things, yelling out, and so on. If only there was another adult in the room, it would change everything.

Another big "break through" with D.B. yesterday. I was making the rounds at lunch, opening milk, ketchup and mustard packets, and sporks. D.B. held up his ketchup packet for me to open, which I did. Then, he held up his mustard and very clearly said, "I don't like this." I almost had to sit down. I've continued to ask him to talk to me throughout the day. If he wants to switch centers, he'll normally come over to me, bang on my arm, and then point at the center he wants to go to. I'll say, "Do you want to go to ______ (dominoes, counting bears, links, etc.)?" He'll nod his head, but then I'll say, "Tell me 'I want to go to dominoes'." He usually will just get out "dominoes," but still, it makes me happy.

When Mom came to pick him up today, I told her about yesterday's sentence, and how he's come so far. She was so happy, and relieved, to hear it. She said D.B. told her "I have to get used to the other kids, Mama." So, naturally, I asked her if he speaks at home, and she said he did. Now, obviously, I have no idea what that really means. He's able to make himself understood without being verbal. I told her that I'd keep working with him, and I joked that I hoped soon enough I would be complaining to her that D.B. can't keep his mouth shut! :)

Memorable Monday

I mentioned Thursday that I had a rough morning with three boys, one who was punching people all morning. This is J.F., who I think I'll call Twin Boy. (He and his twin sister are both in my class.) I just went back and reread all the posts from this school year so far, and I see I haven't written about Twin Boy yet, so here goes...

Twin Boy has had many "issues" since school started, the most troublesome one being his aggression. The very first day of school, he hit me at least three times. And, for seemingly no real reason. The first time, I simply asked him to find his name tag. He kind of grunted, then punched me. WTF?! It happened a few more times, like when I asked him to line up, and when I told him he had to wait his turn for the bathroom. Naturally, I spoke to Mom immediately about this. I had one of his older brothers a few years ago, so I'm familiar with the family. I believe there are about 9 kids in the family (all with J names!) and the twins are the babies. I've been really struggling to figure out how many of these issues are simply due to being babied for the past 5 years.

Over the next few days, Twin Boy hit me several more times, as well as many of my babies. I spoke to Mom every morning about it. Mom strikes me as being a bit "slow," (I promise I'm not trying to be funny) which I noticed several years ago when the brother was in my room. The father of this brood is about 70 years old, Mom is probably younger than me, so it's an interesting coupling, to say the least. I wish I knew the back story there.

The following Monday, Twin Boy had an explosive episode in which he beat the living crap out of his sister. He was kicking and punching with both hands and both feet. I literally lifted him up off her, and then removed him from the room. I went straight to the office and called home, hoping someone would be able to come get him. Dad answered, I explained what happened, and filled him in on what has been going on for the past week. He immediately started telling me about how Mom babies Twin Boy, and doesn't discipline him like she should. He told me he was from Nigeria, and he believed in spanking his children, but Mom doesn't do it like she should. Then he says, "I'm giving you permission right now to spank J anytime he needs it!" I almost laughed. Trust me, he is FAR from the first parent who has told me the exact same thing. Not that I haven't thought about smacking a few of the babies on the bottom over the years, but I would NEVER do it. Besides, I know that if I did, the very parent who gave me permission to do it would be suing me faster than I could blink an eye!!

Anyway, Dad said Mom wasn't around to come get him, but he wanted to speak to Twin Boy. I don't know what he said, and Twin Boy didn't utter a word into the phone. The next day, he had a MUCH better day. Wednesday, again, a fairly good day. Thursday morning, Dad brought the twins to school, and asked how Twin Boy has been doing since Monday. I happily told him that the past two days were much better. He says, "Ah, that's good. I've been whooping him in the morning before school." Jeez Louise!! NOT what I wanted to hear. Hopefully, after a "good report" that morning, Dad stopped with the morning beatings.

So, over the past four weeks, Twin Boy has had some bad days, even more really awful days, and a couple of good days. Thursday, obviously, was one of those awful days. When I called home, Dad said he would send Mom to come get him. That was at 11:15. Nobody ever showed up. Around 12:30, I knew I was reaching the end of my rope with him, so I asked Ms. W. if he could sit in her room for a while, which gave me the respite I needed, especially because I was still dealing with the other two boys. (This may be a good time to remind everyone that I have NO ASSISTANT again this year. Ugh!) I was hoping to talk to Mom and/or Dad the next morning, but neither of the twins came to school that day. Truth be told, I wasn't that upset about Twin Boy being out, but I missed Twin Girl. She has her own "issues," (for another post!) but she's generally a very sweet little girl. I guess Dad decided to keep them home after what happened the day before. I just hope it wasn't a day filled with spankings....

Today, Twin Boy started out a little rough. Before lunch, he punched two boys. Then, during rest time, he absolutely would not be still or quiet, which is annoying enough, but I was trying to DIBLE some of the kids. Finally, I had him come sit on the floor next to me, and warned him that he needed to be absolutely quiet because I was testing at my desk. Believe it or not, he was actually pretty good. Granted, it was only for about 10 minutes, but still, not bad! After I finished the last test, I had Twin Boy come stand next to me and have a little chat. We decided that he could be quiet when he tried, since he just did it, and that maybe he could try to be really quiet for the remainder of rest time. We talked about why he needed to be still and quiet, and how it was hard for his friends to rest when he was disturbing them, etc. I wasn't really sure how much of what I was saying was sinking in, but I hoped for the best. I made sure we only had a couple minutes more of rest time so that he could be successful at his first attempt. He was!

After going to the bathroom, we started our Math Centers. Usually, there is a LOT of fighting during centers because Twin Boy doesn't particularly like to share all the time. This is when he normally does most of his hitting. Today, he chose the center he wanted, and actually played nicely for a quite a while. The fact that I was sitting next to his center may have helped, but I was still impressed with him. Even better, the two boys he was playing with noticed how nicely he was playing, and said so! It was great!! This was done with absolutely no prodding from me. It came directly from the babies, which just made me beam with pride.

We continued our afternoon without any problems, and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I was calling tables to go to the coatroom, and suddenly one of the boys who had been playing with Twin Boy earlier again made mention of what a good afternoon he was having, and told me he wanted to give him a high five! I almost fell off my chair. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Then, naturally, ALL the babies wanted to give him a high five. Too cute! So what if we were going to be late for dismissal today, Twin Boy needed to get his props!! What a great way to end the day. Especially a Monday! Maybe it's a sign of what the rest of the week will bring...

That's when it occurred to me that I needed to thank all of my longtime readers/friends who must have been praying for me all summer. I know we all were hoping I would find myself at a new school this year, but I'm just as happy to be having such a great year so far, even if I am still at the Hell-Hole. (Good Lord, I hope I didn't just jinx myself!!) I think I'm really going to enjoy the 2008-2009 school year :) Just to be safe, feel free to continue those prayers ;-)