Let's call him Manny

I am a preschool teacher with a myriad of cute little anecdotes about my silly little kiddos. 

I swear, every single day is like an episode of Kids Say the Darndest Things! Which is why I can't believe I haven't even posted a single preschool anecdote in this blog. My friends have told me to keep a notebook with me all the time so I can immediately write down whatever "darn" things these kids do or say! But, though I have told them many a story about my funny kids, I have never actually written down (except for the occasional status message on Facebook) any of it.

So I am going to start today with this particular story. Funny enough, it's not actually about any of my kids in preschool. It happened after classes were over, during my campus supervision stint from 2:15-3pm at the elementary school playground. It was my 2nd week of supervision (each TA gets 2 weeks of campus supervision every semester) and I had developed a "bad cop" relationship with this 3rd grade (or was it 4th grade?) kid.

Okay. Before I continue, let me be honest. I've never had much rapport with kids in this age group - or more like, I've never really tried to develop much rapport with them. They're just at their most annoying in this stage. They answer back. They test your patience. And they act like the smartest alecks in the world. I know that, being a teacher, I should have more understanding for them especially knowing what they're going through, developmentally... but it's just so hard to deal with them. And they're not even cute anymore!

Anyway, going back to the story, there was this one kid - let's call him Manny - who seemed like the stereotypical testy 9 year old kid who insisted on hanging upside down on these very high bars like some kind of monkey. These bars weren't made for that purpose, just so you know. They were meant to hold this slid-y thing... whatever, it's too hard to explain! Just know that kids are not meant to be hanging upside down from them. So the first time I saw him do it, I told him that he wasn't allowed on there because it wasn't safe. I did tell him that he can do that on this other bar which was much lower and more suitable for those kinds of acrobatics. But he was like, "That's so boring." As in, he literally went on the smaller bar, hung upside down on it and said, "See? Boring!" And I, having no storage of effective retorts to answers like this, just said, "Well, it's better to be boring than unsafe." I know. It sounded so lame but it was the best I could do. The point is I asserted my authority and watched over those big bars like a hawk.

Cut to a few days after that first encounter, Manny makes his way to the big bars looking absolutely excited to hang himself on it like some kinda monkey, when he saw me. The way the expression on his face shifted from excitement to sheer frustration was slightly amusing. He asked me, "When am I ever gonna play here when you're not the supervisor?" To which I answered back, "Well, buddy, the other supervisors will tell you exactly the same thing." So he slumps down on the slide muttering how boring that is.

The following day, I decided I was gonna try to give this kid Manny a chance - mostly because I was really bored myself just standing there waiting for a kid to try doing something unsafe just so I can promptly tell them to stop because... well... it's not safe. Can I just say before I continue the story, it really sucks being the bad cop. If only these kids knew how much I would love to be the cool guy that lets them do every fun thing that they can think of! But someone has to look out for these kids' safety. And unfortunately or fortunately, from 2:15-3pm until Wednesday next week, that responsibility falls on me.

Anyway, going back to Manny... I made small talk with him one day, asked him about the music playing upstairs, found out that he plays an instrument and that he was, generally, a nice enough dude to talk to. I was actually starting to like him already, but my impression of him only went on a complete turnaround when I overheard a conversation that he had with his yaya. He was telling his yaya that his mom gave him money and that he wanted to use it to buy an "I Love Japan" shirt as a gift to his friend (The school was selling these shirts as a fundraising effort for the earthquake/tsunami victims in Japan). He wanted to buy the shirt the next day but his yaya told him that they should just go out that afternoon and buy a shirt in a another store. Manny's answer to his yaya was priceless.

He said, "No! I wanna buy the Japan shirt so I can use my money for something important!"


I gotta tell ya, it took all of my will power to stop myself from clapping and crying tears of joy then and there! And to think I thought he was a brat! How wrong was I?! As if that wasn't enough to disprove me, I see Manny later on walking arm in arm and laughing with his yaya like they were really good buddies. Needless to say, I realized that he was NOT a brat at all. Far from it, I would think.

Nowadays, I guess Manny and I have just developed an unspoken agreement that we were gonna make each other's lives easier. He doesn't try to climb up and hang upside down on the bars anymore - at least, not when I'm looking - and even calls the attention of other kids who try. I watch him run around like a goofball, laughing and having a good time with his friends, and I smile. This kid proved me wrong and taught me a valuable lesson.

So now, at least for the rest of my supervision gig, I've made it my personal goal to give these kids a chance to prove me wrong, just like Manny did. 

Love, Oli :)