Stories from the Frontlines

I’ve been talking a lot about the preschool where I work lately, and I guess it’s fitting as some of the craziest stories come from my time there. Whether it’s finding a kind in the hallway with their pants half down just pointing and grimacing or having the whole class give a kiss to one girl because she was sad that her mom yelled out her, my job is always full of surprises.

This week proved no different so I thought I would add a few more stories in case my Grandpa or anyone at Sanford needs a story to tell. I arrived on Wednesday after a long weekend to find out that they had fumigated the school during the 5 day weekend. Apparently, there was a rat sighting. However, I guess the five days wasn’t long enough to air out the school because we came back to an awful smell. So, instead of having class on Wednesday, we spent most of the day outside! We started with a one hour group singing and movement time, kind of like camp. Tried class for about an hour and then realized it was better just to have recess the rest of the morning while the school aired out.

My favorite story from the preschool, however, is about the 2 year old students. They are my favorites because I walk into class with them and they all just look at me like I’m some sort of strange creature, which I think I am for them. But they are so amiable and they love to sing and dance and imitate me. It’s really amazing. However, sometimes this imitation doesn’t lead to learning. Every time I walk into the classroom with the two year olds I say “HELLO!” and give a big wave. After a few days of doing this, the kids started saying “Hello” to me during recess, and I thought to myself: “Oh! They’re learning! They’re so smart!” Then, I realized that they were saying “Adios Hello” when they left the school. I started wondering if they got mixed up that maybe hello meant goodbye. Then, the teacher broke the news to me: they thought my name was Hello. Everytime I would walk in they would say Hello because they were saying what they saw and on the playground they were just trying to get my attention.

So, I have been bequeathed Hello. I hope that does not cause they long term linguistical damage.