We’re Just Kids.

Hello.

After what felt like the longest week ever, when I actually only taught four days because I was at a training on the first day, I have a THREE DAY weekend. It is coming at just the right time because I feel like I barely made it out of my classroom alive.

Here’s why.

Ready?

I teach kids.

LITTLE KIDS.

And some of them are DIFFICULT. There. I said it.

And yes, I know the difficult ones need me the most and need love and are vying for my attention and on and on it goes. I KNOW.

I said I KNOW!

But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t exhausting. IT IS. Find me a teacher who isn’t tired and bring me that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow while you’re at it, please.

LISTEN TO THIS. This happened on Tuesday. And every word of it is true. NO EXAGGERATION. And it bothered me so much that I told my teammate, and then my other two teammates, and then our custodian, and then the checker at Target, and maybe even the people who work at Murphie’s daycare. In fact, I am currently writing this post at 4am because I WOKE UP THINKING ABOUT IT.

Here we go.

My kids had transitioned to the carpet from our indoor recess [YET AGAIN, IT HAS BEEN RAINING IN SO CAL and this much rain is NOT normal for us}. We were reading a chapter of Junie B. Jones and then we were going to start centers.

One of my little boys, who we will call BOY NUMBER ONE, was playing with something on the carpet. And it wasn’t a stress reliever toy or any other approved item. It was just a piece of paper. A teeny tiny piece of paper. I mean, it might as well have been a spit wad. But it wasn’t. And he was playing with it like it was a rocket ship, zooming it from here to there.

I’m sure that’s what he had been doing during inside recess, but I didn’t care, it was distracting me out of the corner of my eye, not to mention I still have major black floaters in my right eye so STOP IT ALREADY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

BOY NUMBER ONE sits on the second row of our carpet area so I just leaned forward, held out my hand, and said let me have it, please.

And he just stared at me.

In other words, he did NOT hand it over.

I repeated myself. Let me have it, please.

NOTHING. NOTHING!!!! He just stared at me again.

YOU GUYS. Let me repeat. It was a teeny tiny piece of paper. It’s not like it was a piece of gum or a match box car or even a lego. We have paper galore in my room. It’s not like he couldn’t go and get another one after we had gotten off the carpet. Good grief, there are tiny bits of paper all over our floor ALL THE TIME. And, just for the record, I had no intention of throwing it away, (not that he knew that, but still) I JUST WANTED IT OUT OF MY EYE SIGHT.

I repeated myself for a THIRD TIME. Let me have it, please.

Not going to lie. The third time might have sounded scary and not as pleasant as the first time. I’m not a yeller, so I wasn’t yelling, but I was WAY MORE FIRM.

And do you know what BOY NUMBER ONE did?

He went to put that paper IN HIS POCKET. While my hand is just out there, waiting to receive it, HE MOVED TO PUT IT IN HIS POCKET.

Maybe I blacked out, I don’t really know, but I eventually got the stupid little piece of paper, put it on the bookshelf next to me, and smelled the soup. I smiled the whole time so as not to frighten the little ones away. I smiled as if to remind them that I am feathers and light and unicorns, and I love them, and this is fun, teaching is fun, teaching on rainy days can’t get me down, I love EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF THIS FREAKING DAY.

I even said to the class I need to smell the soup! (Breathe in deeply to smell the soup, then release your breath as if you’re blowing on the soup to cool it down.)

And that’s when BOY NUMBER TWO said:

Um.

What?

Excuse me?

He said this AS IF I WAS THE ONE BEING UNREASONABLE.

As if I WAS THE CRAZY LADY ON CHANNEL EIGHTY.

Like, dude, why are you freaking out over a piece of paper? Just chill. WE’RE JUST KIDS.

AM I NOT THE BOSS OF MY OWN CLASSROOM? Isn’t there a Rae Dunn mug somewhere that says BOSS LADY? Isn’t that me?! WHERE IS THAT MUG? I NEED IT STAT.

And sure. Fine. Let’s get all New Age/Millenial/Touchy Feely/Our Class is a Community/There Should Be No Boss. Fine. {Insert eye roll here}

THERE SHOULD STILL BE RESPECT!

I looked at BOY NUMBER TWO and I sputtered and coughed and said I LOVE KIDS! DID YOU NOT JUST SEE ME FLOSSING DURING INSIDE RECESS?! DID YOU ALL NOT JUST TALK ME INTO READING A SECOND CHAPTER OF JUNIE B? DID YOU SEE THE NEW CENTERS I PUT TOGETHER FOR YOU ALL DURING MY LUNCH AS I BARELY ATE ANYTHING AT ALL?

And then I said:

IF OUR PRINCIPAL ASKED ME TO HAND HER SOMETHING, DO YOU THINK I WOULD IGNORE HER THREE TIMES IN A ROW AND THEN PUT IT IN MY POCKET?!?

My kids agreed that I would definitely give my principal whatever she asked me to give her. When I asked why, several of them said BECAUSE SHE IS MY BOSS. Others said because I want to make her happy. Others said because I am a good teacher.

SO!

We had a big ole long talk about MUTUAL RESPECT. And how I KNOW they’re just kids, which is why I spend the majority of my time creating lessons and engaging activities! It’s why I print all the things and make all the things, and BUY ALL THE THINGS.

I’m smelling the soup while I’m writing this BECAUSE I AM STILL SO BOTHERED.

WHY AM I SO BOTHERED?

Would you be bothered?!

I’m going to let it go this weekend. I am.

We had a really good MUTUAL RESPECT lesson on Wednesday and the rest of the week went a lot better.

BUT STILL.

GEESH LOUISE!!