A Day in the Life

You know, my job may not be galmerous, I get to work at 10 till 9 every morning then report to Mrs. Hefner and Mrs. Fannin's classroom to find out my jobs for that day. They are useually the same with just a couple changes here and there. My jobs consist of, but are not limited to, taking care of the trash, cleaning tables, preparing snack, watching the kids as they do their work (making sure they stay focused),keeping an eye on the bathroom when one is in there, keeping an eye on them as they play to keep fights from breaking out, helping the kids clean up, calming down this one girl that always cries, looking after a certain boy when we go outside because he has some issues and needs extra help and attention, help them paint and help them get their backpacks on and jackets zipped. Oh and running random errands for other teachers around the center.
After lunch I go back to work at 10 till 1, this time reporting to Mrs. Meade's classroom. In there I do the same things but when her assistant, Penny, isnt there (like these past two weeks) I take on Penny's jobs too. IE: Teaching them how to make their numbers, stopping fights, solving difficult problems for the children, and running the class when Mrs. Meade has to step out for a minute.
At 3:30 I go across the hall to Mrs. Terri's and Mrs. Pam's room to relieve Pam as she goes upstairs. Terrie leaves earlier so it is just me with the kids. I pretty much just let them play since they are the daycare kids and have been there all day. We play lots and lots of duck,duck,goose, and do lots of puzzles, on nice days (like today) we go outside for about an hour.
So by the time 5 O'clock comes around and I am getting in my car to leave work I have washed 9 different tables about 3 times each (27 times total!!!), taken out the trash at least twice, stopped about 7 fights or so, taken care of 2 or 3 crying children, read 1 or 2 stories, helped about 31 different kids write their names, organized papers, zipped about 40 jackets, watched the bathroom about 5 times, prepared snack for about 31 kids, and walked up and down the hall countless times.
My job can get long, boring, and tiring. Everyday is different and often has a new challenge. Sometimes at the end of the week I find myself asking "God, why do You want me to do this?" But then there are moments like this morning that make it all worth it.
I am changing the kids' names for their safty but this morning there were these two kids, Evan and Abby. Evan has some issues where he needs lots of one on one attention. He gets frustrated and sometimes doesnt get things very fast. Abby is a little girl who is always trying to follow the rules and get her work done. Today free time started out as any other day. All the kids rushed to the different toys and stations. Playing games and having a good time. Evan just watched or waked around the room, with no one to play with. But today Abby walked right up to him and asked him to play a game with her. She picked one of the easier games we have in the room and was explaining it to him. She took her time and even though it took the rest of her free time to play the game (an easy version of Bingo) she played with him. And Evan even won! I'm not sure if she let him win or not, but the smile it brought on his face was priceless. It was so touching to see little Abby care so much about Evan. As I watched to two kids play a thought came to me. "Why don't we do that more? Why don't we are Christians take time out of our busy day to be a blessing to someone in need." Abby was so selfless in giving up her free time with her friends to play with Evan. It was truely one of the sweetest things ever!
Though the days get long, the kids make it all worth. Their love, their smiles. They are the sweetest things.
So has I sit here on my bed at 5:57pm I look back over this day and say, "It was just another day in the life of a preschool teacher."