Monday Morning - Two Weeks Out From Christmas Break
And it's only 8:40 a.m...
I wonder how things are going in your building as we count down the days... Just two weeks until Christmas Break and only ten days until the Children's program.
Things began well enough this morning. Someone brought a copy of today's newspaper to Faculty devotions, and there on the front page was a large color photo I shot Friday afternoon of our kids sledding out front on our hill. The local paper doesn't usually take submissions, but occasionally they humor me and run one of mine. Perhaps my hobby will turn into some part-time work in retirement. But things went downhill, so to speak, quickly after the picture...
Apparently we should have started sooner involving Kindergarten in our program rehearsals - they obviously don't have the Christmas spirit yet. Peace on earth, good will to men, etc. hasn't resonated with them yet as Donald and Russsell got into a shoving match over a toy. By the way, Russsell's name is spelled correctly - his mom spelled it with 3 s' so it would be unique and nobody else would ever have their name spelled the same as his. I told his mom a few years ago that I thought this was such a cute idea that when we got a dog I was going to name him Russsell, too. She took me seriously and has been worried about this ever since. Diane says that I am evil and...well, never mind.
Unfortunately, Russsell is a bit uncoordinated yet, and when Donald pushed him, he stumbled over his untied shoe laces and smacked himself right below the nose on the counter top. It obviously will require a stitch or two, and so Dad was called. Dad is very protective, and the teacher is anticipating this will not go well, so she has quickly involved me. She was so nervous that when Dad arrived, she forgot his son's name AND that he was still in the classroom and not waiting in my office... But we did have one thing going for us; Russsell had started the whole thing by taking a toy from Donald and then shoving him, so Donald's minor push in return was something Dad could understand. That, and he, too, looked down and saw Russsell's shoes were untied. Anyway, Russsell is on his way to the walk-in.
Things brightened up around 9:00 a.m. thanks to the 1st grade teacher. She shared with the faculty that Charlie, a child in her class who is not prone to joking asked to sing a Christmas song at the start of class today. His request was for "Fleece Snotty Dots!" In all seriousness, this child does not joke around. He likely is mildly autistic or has Asperger's Syndrome, the doctor's are still trying to pin down a diagnosis; he has been steadily improving and is monitored closely by his doctors and specialists, but joking around is not typical for him, so the teacher did not laugh at what he said. She did confide with the rest of us, however: "Can you just picture in your mind what he's envisioning as he goes around the house singing this song?"
Lots of "stuff" has been going around since school began back in September. Some upper respiratory and some stomach things. Another quotable quote from the 1st grade teacher this 8th day of December, 2008. She bumped into Luke, one of our 3rd grade boys, coming out of the restroom right before school started today, and he was not looking well.
"Luke, you look sort of pale. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, my stomach doesn't feel good...but I think I can make it through rehearsal before I throw up."
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