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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Oh, how I missed the children!

I love a good break.  And a nice, long weekend.  And even a snow day or two...or ten!  But I also love, love, LOVE the children.  Absence most definitely makes the heart grow fonder.  And I had been away for far too long.  Here are a couple of highlights:

A third grade teacher in my building was doing a journal entry and had the kids drawing and writing about a secret club.  One of the darlings made a sign on the door of her club that said: "Don't make no messes and don't do no trash talk."  Ignoring the grammar, that is excellent advice for life.  So many things could be avoided if people didn't make no messes or do no trash talk.  I probably need to make my own sign with that rule.  Or maybe a t-shirt?  I'll let you know when I launch my clothing line.

Today one of my little friends came in and was so incredibly sad.  He put his head down and just cried and cried.  I went over to give him a hug and to see what I could do:

Me: What's wrong?
Tears: Someone in my family died.
Me: Oh, no!  Who died?
Tears: I don't know.
Me: You don't know?  Was it someone close to you or did you just hear your parents talking about it and it made you sad?
Tears: Well, she couldn't walk anymore and she kept falling and so we had to put her to sleep.
Me: ...I had no words because I was thinking they put his grandma to sleep or something and I couldn't wrap my head around why they put someone in their family to sleep.
Tears: [sobbing] It was my cat!
Me: Oh, your poor cat!  I'm so sorry.  [Thinking: Whew!  Thank God it was just a cat!]

Obviously, my brain was still asleep because I really thought a grandparent had been "put down" and I was really concerned for the emotional well-being of this child.  And concerned that I may become involved in some kind of murder trial since this kid just told me about how they put a family member "to sleep".  But by the end of the day, he was back to his normal self; falling out of his chair and kicking his neighbor. 

I don't know about you guys, but I really work hard on manners and just developing socially acceptable behaviors with some of my friends.  I had a heart to heart with my kindergartners earlier this year about how instead of announcing, "I GOTTA POOP!", you should just ask, "May I go to the restroom?"  We've been doing really well with it.  Until today.

Little Darling: I GOTTA POOP!
Me: What should you say instead?
Little Darling: I GOTTA POOP, PLEASE?
Me: No...try, "May I go to the..."
Little Darling: May I go to the poop?
Me: "May I go to the restroom?"
Little Darling: Oh!!

{For the record: the conversation took much longer to type than it did to actually have with the child.  She didn't have those scary EMERGENCY eyes either.  We weren't at risk for an explosion!  I thoroughly assessed the situation prior to making it a teachable moment.}

Oh, the cute moments totally make up for all of the times I end up beating my head against a wall.  For the most part...  Have any of you had a funny or sweet moment over the past couple of days that made the alarm clock {almost} worth it?  I want to hear 'em!  That way I'll have lots of funnies and warm fuzzies to save for a rainy day.

15 comments:

Katie @ Miss Klohn's Classroom said...

I am glad my kids were not the only ones talking about poop today!

We were in the library today and one of my 6th grade friends told me that he needed to go and use the restroom. He begins to walk out of the library carrying his newly checked out book, and the librarian stopped and asked him why he was taking it. He informed us that he needed something to read while he pooped! When he walked back in the librarian was waiting with a book for him called "Poop Happened!" It was priceless!

Miss Klohn
Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher

Randi said...

I love this post...because I feel the same about those babies! I adore these moments~they are priceless. I'm also glad you assessed the situation first:)

First let me say that I do NOT have any peanut allergies in my room...and Student 1 & 2 speak with a THICK Spanish accent...

ME: These M&M's have peanuts in them so don't be surprised.
Student 1: I have a peanut allergy.

ME: No buddy. You don't.
Student 1: smiles and laughs

ME (because now I'm second guessing this): What happens if you do eat a peanut?

Student 2: OOOoooo I know, your head blows up like a balloon!

~In the end there were no peanut allergies~

Randi @ Teach It With Class
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KatieRzLOVESk said...

I loved your POOP story! Made me laugh out loud! I have similiar conversations in my classroom :)

Unknown said...

That's too funny! =)
Jennifer
First Grade Blue SKies

Erika said...

When kids complain of a tummy ache I always tell then to try and go to the bathroom. Well this one kiddo asked me why. I said that sometimes going number two helps your tummy. I got the craziest look. Apparently kids don't use that expression nowadays!

Lisa Lizak and Beth Wright said...

HAHA :) What great back to school stories :) Thanks for making me smile :) Have a great rest of your day!

Lisa :)
Made In The Shade In Second Grade

Journey of a Substitute Teacher (Ms. T) said...

Lol love it!

I hate it when the kids say , " I gotta pee" and am always waiting for them to correct it and say bathroom.

Today I had a kid say they want their teacher to be sick Thursday, because I'm available to sub then lol.

Journey of a Substitute Teacher

Kristin said...

I love those stories! I can't think of any off the top of my head right now . . . but I'll come back to you!
A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Kerri Buckner said...

When I told my kids I was engaged and going to get married this summer, they had some interesting responses. One little girls said, "That's cute." Another one wanted to know if I had two beds at my house. And one little darling announced that he was already married to Bella. NO idea who Bella is.
This moments make all the hard work worth it.

Deb said...

Ha, ha, love it!

I had a little firstie yesterday say, "I really gotta go, or I'm gonna PEE my pants!"

Oh My Little Classity Class

Ms. Wold said...

I have a kiddo who has changed his name several times. He walked in our first day back and said "My name isn't J, it's Sonic, like the hedgehog" and Monday he informed me his name is now Captain America.

✪ Miss W

Miss W Teaches

Cupcake said...

This is a convo I had *after* reviewing what both books were:

Me- "What is a dictionary?"
Student A- "A book where you look up words"
Me- "Good, and what is a thesaurus?"
Student B - "A dinosaur!"

and he was so proud when he said it.. cute :)

A Cupcake for the Teacher

Heather's Heart said...

Love the poop story! You know I did an entire post on being the Potty Police!

One of my favorite stories is when we were reviewing contractions and I asked my Firsties what a contraction was and one little friend replied "a dirty word your momma screams when she is having a baby!"

I about bit my lip off and was shaking because I was holding in my laughter! CLASSIC!

Heather
Heather'sHeart

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Love a good poop story! lol.

I had some good poop stories today and while I was dealing with that situation a puke story began....

gosh, that was gross, sorry.

I couldnt even blog about it I was so distraught. lol.