Creaky cranky old man

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Fell asleep with my 4 year old son last night, and woke at 3:30 ready for work & thinking plans for day. Nodded off again to awake overtired at 8, with those excellent ideas shot!

Stiff back a legacy of sleeping scrunched up against the side of a hard bed without a pillow, which made running around the playground on a very windy morning somewhat onerous. Creak creak. Red noses prevalent, as winter clearly closing in. Despite being collectively cute, the Green class girls all want picking up all the time, competitively so, noisily and relentlessly. Decided I was not going to do today, cue pouts and choruses of 'not fair'.  

As today is the last Friday of the month, library detail. Each child borrows a book to take home. Remarkable number of these children's books feature body functions of animals or people which I think would not feature in English books. Prudery or prudence? Personally, would rather not read a book to kids (or myself!) starring a dog dropping unwanted bombs everywhere.

I gave 'What do u want 4 Xmas' song a run out, and it met mild amusement & participation

K-Sensei better at this than one or two others, and she does keep things under control. When she is paying attention. The climbing stuff in her 'not paying attention time' another issue - which I solved today by making angels to avoid arsegroping. There was great excitement at cleaning...dirty rags to run up & down the wooden floors on all-fours. I do not have a problem with children cleaning up after themselves - think they must, and appreciate bigger jobs that are keeping the whole building clean - but I do not think they should have to do this instead of the school being properly cleaned regularly. There is no such job as 'caretaker' in schools here.

Noticed one or two boys trying to copy my footballing style, others keeping the ball. Frustrating when one hoofs if as far as possible in the opposite direction to the game everyone else is enjoying, folks drift off as interest wanes or falling leaves (pre-swept up!) attact their attention. Another greedy dribbler never passes but tries to shoot very hard from point blank; another couple of lads always pick the ball up and claim to own it. Whinge of the day!

This marks 3 months; half way there?

Of skipping and potatoes

Joe Root!

After all the excitment & build up, not to mention the dreaded early start, Cinderella could not go to the ball. Whoever wrote up my schedule did not know that I was persona non grata for the train trip today! Sulk!

Instead, I was involved with the left-behind half of the kindy, engaging in skipping practice. This is what the girls did in Worksop while the boys were scuffing their shoes to bits playing football with a stone on the blacktop yard! At least my knee isn't killing me any more - the pre-typhoon ache's disappeared - but I'm never going to be a skipper! Oh, the ropes are too short. Damn, I'll just watch and admire the beautiful autumn morning, daydream a bit will K-sensei smoothly does her thing!

Painting tubers

Sweet potatoes & carrots

Unidentified muddy objects in bucket are vegetables from the school farm to be washed, which when dried quickly in the lovely sunshine became still-life items for children to draw. Some very cool interpretations, and a very enjoyable class attempt at the "one potato, two potato" song (JET songs CD) - first in pairs then in fours with fists...

Cheering up a fat-lip

My lunch over (Friday = curry, far too sweet), time spent in the corridor working on my quads - three or four kids hanging on each ankle & then trying to drag them along the polished wooden floor to the other end. Bonus = cleans the floor?! In the UK I know a girl with a fat lip from a head-banging accident cannot be consoled - which is bonkers. What is the world coming to if a concerned adult cannot put an arm around a distraught child to help calm them down? Guess I would not get a job for long in a UK Kindy!

Oh, and the train trip mob came back very excited...not talking to them about it. Not fair. I wanted to go!