February 25,2014

I start off Lunch Buddy duty today with having to say this: "Repeat after me: I will not slap my neighbor in the face repeatedly with my string cheese."

Highly distracted looking kindergartner is trying to convince me to take him to the bathroom. Normally, I have no problem taking a little one to the bathroom, but this guy's expression and mannerisms were screaming, "I want to chat with ALL of my friends!"  After dragging him away from 3 attempted conversations he finally makes it into the boys bathroom. 5 long minutes later he comes out. "Did you wash your hands?" I say.  "No, but I lied to you. (creeping smile) I didn't really go to the bathroom when I was in there."  Then he hustles back to his table while I say under my breath, "Fool me once.....!"

Indignant 1st grader: "That is not the Cat in the Hat. That's our gym teacher. Who does he think he's fooling? Those whiskers are drawn on his face!!!"

Hmm, Patrick is a no show at lunch. His classmates tell me that he was just finishing something up in art class. Knowing that Patrick is very passionate about his 'artistic process', this doesn't surprise me at all. The kids don't have much time to eat though, and I am concerned he won't have time to get some food in his stomach. This will surely cause a cascade of terrible events to occur. Kind of like that commercial where the guy gets tackled by the lowland gorilla. Trying to mask my inner helicopter parent, I approach his teacher and calmly mention my concerns to her. Not 15 seconds later, I spy Patrick meandering down the hall.

So, here is why I like Patrick's teacher.  She just really gets him. She knows he loves art, and she knows that he can be moody.  She knows he has a different sense of time and that he has a great sense of humor.  She knows that he's creative and quirky and that he is really comfortable with his own quirkiness. Instead of saying anything too harsh or overreacting, she quips, "Alright, Patrick, get to lunch now. There's plenty of time to be a starving artist later in your life."  Perfect.  Love that lady.