Pardon My French

Ah, Friday...

I had a great day today. It was a busy day, but a great one even though nothing particularly special happened.

This morning I had my Faux Deb (False Beginner) Army class today, which is one of my favorites. Friday mornings are always fun with these guys who are super-motivated and have a great sense of humor. I laugh a lot on Fridays. Then in late afternoon I had my youngest group, who were just terrific. The parents brought them a little bit later so I was able to slip in the room and set it up completely before they came zipping in. Usually it's locked and a parent is the one to unlock it, so I have to prepare when they're there. They were able to sit right down at the table and get started, and from then on we had a great class. We sang "The Weather Song" with the cassette today, and they begged to sing it again...and again...and again. Last time I sang it a cappella and no one called for an encore, so I guess I should take the hint and stick to background vocals. They were just happy and in good moods and I got plenty of hugs. At one point I had three children clinging to my legs, but I think competition is somehow involved. If one gives me a hug and gets a pat on the head then the others will swarm to hug and get pats.

We got everything I had planned done in record time so we ended class by taking a pretend trip somewhere and packing clothes in our imaginary suitcases. It kind of threw them off a bit, since I had actual clothes spread around the room and they seemed to expect me to produce actual suitcases for them. Once I explained that no, they had pretend suitcases but the cool part was that they needed to make the sound effects for pretend suitcases (zzzzzzzip, etc.) they really seemed to get into the idea. They were very calm in choosing their clothing and then folding it carefully. They then took turns sitting in the special 'Presenter's Chair' and told the class what they had packed on their trip. Both boys packed hats and a skirt, the clowns. They really liked that part but got a little antsy once the parents showed up so towards the end. I was so proud of them in the beginning because they were doing a great job with the vocabulary and listening to directions and not bossing each other around. Go, little people, go. I love the wee ones and miss my old job pretty badly, but if I can get enough kid classes I might be able to survive.