Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Three O'Clock


Three o'clock is HARD. Three o'clock means:


Three kids who are hungry

Three lunchboxes to unpack and clean

Three sandwich containers to wash

Three thermoses to empty and wash

Three backpacks open with contents strewn all over the floor

Three kids who don't want to do homework

Three cats who think it is time to play

Three snacks to figure out

Three pencils to find and sharpen


And I am supposed to be there for all of it. Even if that means I am supposed to be reading the kindergartener a book, helping the 1st grader find his three lined paper AND calling out spelling words to the 3rd grader - ALL AT THE SAME TIME!


How do you do it? Do you stagger homework amongst them all? Do you just dive into the insanity? After they have dumped it all on the table, how do you know who's permission slip goes where? How do you know who needs a dollar for hat day and who doesn't? Do you always sign the folders, notebooks, and homework sheets so they don't get dinged on the behaviour chart the next day? Do you always remember when it is your turn for snacks? Do you stand in the middle of Walmart and try to figure out something that ALL 23 students would eat? Do you remember that nothing can contain peanuts?


My mind is just goo by 3:30! How do you do it?

3 comments:

Marilee said...

The other day Samuel got in the van after school and started crying. He asked why I hadn't checked his red folder the night before. I apologized and asked what I'd missed -- his HOMEWORK! So I only have 2 school kids to deal with at 3:00 pm, and I still can't keep it together some days. Can't wait to read the wisdom from your other friends that have to be way more together than this friend!

The Crazy Coxes said...

Too funny!
I spaced my kids out so I would never have 3 preschoolers at home.;) Sorry! I'm no help at all!

The Crazy Coxes said...

Back - I would stagger it a little bit so that whichever kid needed it - could have a little "down" time before starting homework. Even if it's just 20 minutes. My middle son could NOT come home from 6 hours of school and sit back down and start homework. So while I'm a big fan of work before play, I always let him have a snack and go play for a half hour.