Wednesday, April 6, 2011

When do teachers pee???

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah said, "Mom, next week you get to cook in our classroom?!!!"
"What?!!!!" I cried out.
"Oh mom, your so silly! Remeber when you signed up to teach the kids in our classroom to cook a long time ago.?!"
Oh that!!! Crud, I thought that day would never come when I signed up about three months ago.
But alas, just like death and taxes, that day was bound to happen!!! he he he
And I learned something during my 3 hours with Sarah's 1st grade class. When on earth do teachers pee?? I am serious!! I was in the classroom for a mere 3 hours and I didn't stop the whole 3 hours and that wasn't even the whole school day. Wow, teachers are simply amazing!!! (And have very strong bladders!)
When I got to my mom's after my 3 hours with the kids, I ran right past her and Will  playing with K'nex as they were trying to talk to me..... right to the bathroom.
My mom later informed me (she just retired from teaching last year), that many teachers have bladder problems for that exact reason. What an injustice to these dedicated people, even prisoners get to pee whenever they want!!

 But onto the project. I stole an idea that my mom taught me when I was a kid. Peanut butter playdough!!! If you haven't made it before, you are seriously missing out on life! I mean playdough you can eat (and I don't mean the stuff you sneak under the table and try to taste but it is so salty.... come on, you've all tried it!!!)
       The only thing was, two of the kids were allergic to peanuts... so the teacher asked me to do two projects. So, I also made chow mein nests with the allergic children. Lots of preparation for these projects, just so I could make it look really "easy" in front of the kids. I pre-packaded all the dough ingredients in freezer bags so the kids could just squeesh all the ingredients together mess-free. I learned the hard way after doing this same project with my Cub Scouts earlier in the week and having this result......

hummmmmmm..... guess I need to revise my plan and make it... um...........cleaner!!! Hence, the need for  pre-packaged freezer bags and a lot of prep work.
 p.s. see the boy behind Bronson? Yeah, I am pretty sure he was about to throw his peanut butter playdough at one of the other boys. That is scouting for you!!
Back to the 1st grade class:  The fun apart about it was.... I wanted the kids to see how it is really done, in case they wanted to make it at home, and so I needed a volunteer that was willing to get their hands sticky. And, Sarah was soooo excited to be able to cook in front the whole class!!!! My normally shy little one just blossomed in front of everyone!! It was a precious memory and everyone was so impressed with how she handled the "sticky" ingredients. She was like an instant superhero!!!! Oh, the joys of 1st grade!!!
                                    Look how excited she is.................
                                       What a trooper!!!!!
 Here is Sarah after she finised her nest with jellybean eggs. 
Here I am in my handy dandy apron after teaching the kids. The teacher had me teach two kids at a time until I had taught all 24ish kids. So I taught the same presentation about 12 times. I could now make peanut butter playdough in my sleep! (Not that I want to, I think dreaming would be preferrable).
   Reminder to self: Don't sign up for projects that will come up inevitably in the "future". The day will always come and I will invariably be just as tired and exhausted that day as the day I signed up. Crazy realization, huh?

5 comments:

Grama Karen and Papa Lund said...

Waht a great treat and talent to give to the kids.

We never did anything like that in my grade school.... at least that I remember.

Lund is certainly become a fish type of guy.

Rogers Family said...

That sounds like a fun day! What a great project for the kids. And try being a pregnant teacher that has to pee! LOL! It was nice in Bagdad because I had a bathroom in my classroom. Now the bathroom is at the end of the hall. It's awful!!! :)

Bonnie Hynes said...

YAY!! You are such a go-getter! Doing scouts and school volunteering in the same week! Love you, praying for you, counting down to July when we get to see you!

Heidi said...

I have been searching for a recipe for peanut butter playdough! Will you email it to me? Pretty please? heidi@thebartles.com

Jeremy and Ruth said...

Love you! What a great mother you are!