I have this student, you know, The Screamer. She has good and bad days but it’s pretty much guaranteed right before any major holiday or school break she’ll lose it. This kid is just not able to function under long term excitement, stress, or after field trips. This is the same kid who wolfed down an entire gingerbread house she made and then (surprise!) spent the afternoon in the bathroom. She is also an unbelievable crybaby, I’m sorry; I know that sounds harsh for a five-year-old but this kid is just ridiculous. Highly emotive, this child crumbles at the slightest unrest; I understand this reaction a little bit, I myself have been known to be extremely emotional. But to give you an example I’ve compiled a list of reasons for this girl to cry:
1) Tiny triangle shaped piece of paper just won’t glue to the paper.
2) Gluestick becomes infuriating…switch to tape.
3) Tape proves to be equally frustrating, making life totally and utterly unbearable.
4) Discover that Mom has packed string cheese for snack. Sob uncontrollably over this, doesn’t Mom know how much string cheese is loathed and despised? How could Mom do this? HOW?
5) Refuse to relinquish seat next to close friend, even if it means punching another girl out…despite the fact that the other girl was wounded, there are immediate tears from the punchee.
6) Return to class and realize that the same triangle is still not glued onto paper; this proves to be so horrible that the entire class is rewarded to a high pitch scream of despair followed by hysterical sobbing.
As I type this I am shamelessly chowing down on a box of chalky candy hearts from Valentine’s Day. They taste terrible…well the white ones are a little bit better but the rest of them are despicably bad–I finally gave in and threw out the yellow hearts. I expected too much on Valentine’s Day. Sure, we made mailboxes and had a little party. I kept all the handmade Valentines (including one of me doing yoga, the “Mountain Pose” to be specific) and tossed the crappy commercial ones. One kid gave me socks.
I’m also in an odd position of realizing that this job is temporary…so why have I been neglecting my sick days? Stressing about parents I may never see again? Oh, sure, perhaps there’s a small possibility…maybe. I can feel myself divorcing this job just a little bit each day. It could be that I’ve finally got the hang of it, and what used to be really hard (i.e. the early mornings, the endless staff meetings, the kids crying, sneezing, and coughing on me), are now accepted with a certain ease of mind.