Thursday was the last day of Intercession, or Three Weeks of Torture as I like to call it. My nerves were rubbed down to a nub and I had almost no patience left. If I heard "Ms. Gabi!!" one more time, I was going to scream. Ok, by this time I might have already said very, very loudly, "Please stop saying my name!!" Most of the kids were under the influence of a movie in the other room and I was watching over three kids in the main room. Shut-up and walk a mile in my shoes before you start criticizing, Movie time=Sanity.
Sheriff and Fairy Princess
--giving them nicknames is very medicinal--were playing in the corner with the doll house and Lego Boy was playing with, surprise!, Legos at the table where I was sitting--
Sheriff has Cerebral Palsy, Fairy Princess has Aspergers, and Lego Boy is Autistic....which is why they were not watching the movie...gah! I was working on an
extreme dot-to-dot, my form of meditating while at work, but also listening to the children play.
Sheriff: Look, there is a lion in the bedroom. (He puts a plastic, toy lion on the doll bed.)
Fairy Princess: No, no, Lion. Lions are not allowed in the house.
Sheriff makes the lion jump on the bed.
Fairy Princess: No, Lion, no. You have to go outside. Lions are not allowed in the house!
Sheriff moves the lion to the kitchen.
Fairy Princess: No lions in the house! No, Lion, no! You have to go! (Her voice is getting louder and more insistent.)
Sheriff: Hey, let's pretend the lion attacks the mom.
Fairy Princess: No, Lion, you have to leave! No lions in the house!
Sheriff: So, Fairy Princess, let's pretend the lion attacks the mom.
Fairy Princess: No lions in the house! Lion, get out! No lions in the house!
Sheriff: Let's pretend the lion attacks the mom.
Silence.
Sheriff: How about we pretend the lion attacks the mom.
Fairy Princess: (She has two dolls in her hands and turns her back to Sheriff, obviously choosing to ignore him.) Ok, little girl. I am going to read a book to you. It is a good book and you will like it.
Sheriff: Ms. Gabi, why isn't Fairy Princess answering my questions?
Lego Boy: (under his breath) You should call animal control.
(Intercession is the three week "vacation" that the
year-round schools have twice a year. My program offers all day care
for these kids during this time. I typically get 8-10 kids and must
find away to keep them entertained each day until the other schools let out in the afternoon. The children that come are not the "sit-down-and-color-all-day" variety. They have very short attention spans, are loud, and
every 3 seconds are seized by the urge to run around in circles
screaming at the top of their lungs. At least that is what it feels
like.)