" You Wanna Smell My Tootsiie Rolll? "

So I started a new job this week. Unbeknownst to me I'm teaching an after school class at the daycare my son attends. I didn't realize when I was hired that taking care of 23 rowdy children BY MYSELF, with no prior experience was what I was going to be doing. Not that I'm complaining....just venting. Which I'm allowed to do occasionally :). These are great kids with alot of potential. They are also great kids with an unfortunate hearing disabilty that is apparent everytime I talk. I brought a megaphone with me today in hopes that that would get them to listen. With this crowd I think I'm going to need an airhorn. I've never yelled so much in my life. They obviously have me confused as their doormat and personal maid because when I say "clean up after yourself", they hear " please leave your area as messy as possible then go on and play with something else leaving me to clean up after you." No ma'am, no beuno.
I will never in my life forget that first bus ride with them. I was on the smaller bus that picked up just a few kids everyday and as they're all talking, I distinctly heard a little girl in the back say to another little girl " you wanna smell my tootsiie rolll?" I just kept looking straight ahead and tried not to snort with laughter. Thankfully the little girl's comment to her friend can be easily explained in that it was Monday and the day before was Halloween. So every little boy and girl was just coming off of a weekend long sugar high and Tootsie Rolls and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were still making appearences up and down the ailes of the bus. Lord help me.

By Wednesday I was getting pictures made for me and children whose names I still don't know were coming up to me and giving me hugs. So they like me....but don't listen to me. We can work on that though. It's clear that some of these kids don't come from good homes. That hugs and a simple " good job " are hardly ever heard, and most are starving for attention. So I got more then I bargained for when I was hired for this job. I thought I was just going to be babysitting with someone else. Despite the unexpectedness of having to plan crafts and help with homework and the constant 3 hours of yelling " Dont hit!" " Don't make me tell you again!", I've found myself in the unique position of making a difference in these kid's lives. I'm definitely being challeged, literally and figurtively but a challenge never killed anyone...it usually makes us stronger. I'm not going to lie though, I can't wait for the weekend.