Animal Control

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.)