Today we were shorthanded, and both managers had conferences, leaving another coach and I to tutor 24 hyper kids of varying ages. Normally this isn’t a big setback for me. When kids are well-behaved, things can be hectic yet manageable. However, today I had the pleasure of dealing with-
1.) Two kindergarteners that almost got into a fistfight because one (extremely hyperactive I might add) kid kept kicking the back of the other kid’s chair, pissing off that kid understandably; finally he got fed up, jumped out of his chair and they started to scuffle a bit before I ran over and separated them, calmed both of them down enough so that they could continue, and moved them far apart so they wouldn’t disrupt each other/others around them.
2.) A child asked to use the restroom. I said ‘sure, go right ahead.’ Normally I don’t chance it if they ask to use the bathroom. Sure they sometimes do it just to get out of doing work, but I personally err on the side of caution, especially with little kids who might have small bladders/colons. This child asked to use the bathroom a couple more times, and I obliged, mainly because I was far too busy to argue with him about it (since there are 11 other kids in my area constantly asking questions/needing help). His older brother thought he was doing it to get out of work, and unbeknownst to me, prevented him from entering the bathroom. Well, it turned out he really did have to use the bathroom :smack: , and must have dropped a load in his pants, because when he came back and sat down, the contents of his britches oozed out as if you had stomped on a burrito. That was a fun mess to clean :rolleyes:
3.) A girl who often gets teary eyed as soon as her mom is out of visual range had a meltdown- she HAD to see her mom; she dropped what she was doing sobbing, “I have to find my mom! I have to find my mom!” I was trying to calm her down, convincing her to stay where she was and I would find some way to get the mom to come HERE, because I didn’t know where her mom was and this girl was just wandering off; we’re not supposed to let kids just leave unless we see their parents picking them up and this girl was RUNNING out the door with me right behind her. Thank god her mom was right outside because it probably looked REALLY BAD to the people outside to see this hysterical little girl being apparently chased by a 200 lb 6’ guy :eek:
4.) Another girl asked me for something that was out of reach, since I’m tall. I told her I’m very busy, I would get it for her as soon as I could and to wait for me to get it. Rather than do that, the instant I run back to helping kids she grabs a chair (with wheels) to try to use this as a stepstool. I see her out of the corner of my eye with the chair wobbling precariously as she strains to reach; I dash over right as she’s losing her balance and help her down, clarifying to wait for me.
5.) A kid who was waiting for his mom kept antagonizing this particularly obese boy, doing a fairly good impersonation of Fat Albert’s “Hey hey hey!” which wasn’t very smart since the kid he was teasing looked like he could break his tormentor in half :eek:
6.) I go to help a little girl, but am startled to see she is sitting in a PUDDLE in her chair! :eek: at first I think she peed herself, which made me sigh since its not all that often that I have to deal with cleaning up after two bodily functions in one day. Fortunately, it turns out it was just apple juice, I guess somebody spilled some in her chair or something, but I was really puzzled about how she didn’t seem to notice this. Talking with her mom was plenty awkward- “Why is my daughter’s dress all wet? what happened?” Me: “It, ah, appears that she was sitting in a puddle of apple juice for the past ten minutes…” Mom: “:eek:”
Just a normal day!
Yep, just a normal day today.