Pre-school

Spilled yogurt on pants, teacher wants me to be independent, vomit on another child's bib, an upset stomach, 5 times to the toilet only to wet himself as we're finally ready to go outside, he's forgotten his fork, he won't eat his lunch, she won't put on shoes, they won't listen, they don't want to go to the park, they cry and cry, she sleeps at dismissal every day, mothers want explanations, fathers want a checklist to measure success... they are 3 years old.

This is my daily experience and it is no wonder I come home and take a 2 hour nap every day.

Some how though... she smiles brilliantly and asks "Why?", he crouches and becomes a lion, he says "please", and "it's only ok for teachers to scream" (!), she rolls her eyes to the sky and laughs, he makes a tunnel through my legs, he makes me a sandy icecream cone, they say goodmorning Miss Kate, they say "Mommy will be happy," and give eachother smiles.

This is also my daily experience and it helps me to come back to school each morning.