Oh Mgt!

Yesterday we had resolved to correct Mgt whenever she made a mistake.

 Accordingly, today when we were having our morning circle time and Fr began reclining on her lap like on a living room sofa, I first instructed him to sit properly like the other children; he wasn't obeying at first and continued to stick to her and willfully recline on her thighs and she wasn't objecting.
"You see, Mgt", I remarked casually so as not to hurt her in any way and still gently drive my message through.
"You love him so much and he also loves you so much that he wants to sit close to you and lie down that way. But this is a school and we need to teach proper behavior and discipline to the children so he must learn to obey his teachers and behave properly. You know, yesterday you were not here and he was perfect! He sat, walked , ate, peed and did everything else properly. I have noticed that only when he sees you, he wants to misbehave."
I hoped she didn't feel bad but she did. She didn't say anything and kept silent.

Then bigger incidents occurred.
When we were going to the playground, Fr as usual wanted to walk with Mgt and then less 5 meters gone he started insisting to be carried. Before ever she could pick him up, I broke in again, feeling like a villain at the core of my heart.
"Mgt, look, he is trying play up on you. He is big enough to walk and he does walk on his own. I think I should hold his hand because he tries to take advantage of you." and so saying I took his hand and he walked fine all the way to the park.
She felt bad but I couldn't help it.

On the way I noticed that Sf was wearing wet clothes too. She too had been to toilet with Mgt and like we always have to take care to roll up children's shirts, bodysuit, skirts, frocks etc to protect them from dipping into the toilet bowl she had just stood watching her while her long dress got wet with pee!

While we were in the park Fr peed on himself so bad that even his shoes and socks got dripping wet. The last several days he hadn't peed while in the park because we always took him to the toilet before going there. Today Mgt had taken him for pee. We guessed that maybe he outright refused to pee or did sit down on the potty chair but got up without peeing which is why he peed so hard that even soaked his shoes. It was useless asking her; she was visibly in bad mood. Just 2-3 days ago when Mgt had taken Fr to toilet she had proudly told us that Fr had refused to pee in the toilet and had screamed so much for wearing a diaper that she had to give him a diaper...!

I am really getting sick now.
At about 50 + years of age one would imagine her to have more experience and common sense at dealing with things like these. It doesn't require a university degree to figure out how a child should be made to sit on a toilet bowl or what care should be taken while a child is peeing. Furthermore, she is a certified teacher - not even a trainee who is still learning and 7-8 months in a kindergarten should be more than enough to learn these little basics. What, why and how she doesn't know is beyond me. Every single day she makes such silly, clumsy, stupid mistakes for which we have to apologize to parents.

I talked about this to Mks and even he knew how bad she is at work. I was absent on Tuesday and she was given the charge of putting the children to bed and waking them up. We put them to bed everyday at 12.00 noon and start waking them at 1.15 so that by 1.45 they all are up and dressed as they have to have a snack at 2 pm and some of them get picked up. Well, and she let them sleep till 2 pm. When Mks reminded her twice that she should start waking them up, she said, "Oh, let them sleep a little longer. Its good for them."
Imaginably there was chaos when the parents came to collect their children and found they were still sleeping. Many children went home straight after bed without having the time to eat their snack.

Its time to take some step. Her presence in our group is a serious threat to our quality and commitment. On Monday, I will first discuss this with Cl and if she agrees then I will disclose this matter to Mz. I had been trying to avoid doing any such thing which can endanger her position and reputation in this school but I really think her position and reputation should not be so much my concern but her's and if she is any serious about maintaining her job and prestige then shouldn't she be working accordingly?

Language Problem

We had the usual staff meeting today; as always Mgt arrived late when almost half the meeting was already gone.

On the spur of the moment I decided to address a problem I and Cl are having regarding Mgt's frequent use of Spanish and Italian with our children and her unshakable belief that she is right in doing so despite our gently telling her that that is not so.

When Mz asked if I and Cl had anything to say for our group I pounced on the opportunity and asked in front of all the teachers if we are allowed to speak children's mother tongue to them. I wanted Mgt to hear the answer and so sensibly refrain from speaking languages other than German and English with the children while in our group.
 Cl turned her face sideways to hide the uncontrollable smile on her countenance and while I listened gravely to Mz's answer that we indeed must not speak children's mother tongue to children as we have been appointed here as English or German teachers, I was aware of Mgt who suddenly stood up and started collecting the dishes from the table to conceal her embarrassment.

I was glad I didn't take any names and that nobody took any names and feel sure the answer must have convinced her now that she shouldn't be speaking anymore Spanish and Italian in class.

Kts B'day

Today was Kt's B'day!
He had come specially dressed in an Indian brocade Sherwani suit which his father requested that we change after the party was over so that it didn't get spoilt and dirty.

Kt was a child in our group last year together with Ml; both of them were South Indian, both spoke the same language and their families were great friends too. So they created such a chaos in school that it was impossible to control them, especially Kt who is an extremely active, loud, uncontrollable and mischievous boy. So As decided to separate them and threw Kt in the baby group while Ml remained with us.
 It was very unfair for Kt as he was of the right age to be with us and if he had been with us he could have learnt a great deal more than of course in the baby group.When Kt's mother was informed of the decision she was quite angry but couldn't do anything about it.

Now after spending an almost useless one year in the baby group, Kt got promoted to our group.
His mother is notorious in the whole school for being ghastly unsocial. Forget about speaking, she never even smiles at anyone in the school; she just throws Kt in through the classroom door without a customary polite 'Good Morning' or 'Hello' to the teachers, without even waving a 'Bye' to Kt, she just turns her back sharply like a sword and goes away.
Usually I keep bumping into her at the station or in the school way and a few times even in the train but she just avoids talking. Once I remember, we were coming from opposite directions; she glimpsed me from a distance and changed the side of the road conveniently so that she could avoid me entirely..!

Her husband is very nice though. He talks pleasantly and has no problems in any discussions.

According to the new policy formulated by Stf any child in our class who turns three, will have to be promoted to the next group to create a vacancy for a new admission. So Kt who has turned three today will be in next group from next week onward.

Yesterday we broke this news to Kt's father. He was surprised and then immediately a bit suspicious...
"Why? Has he done something wrong that he is being given another group?"
This question made us burst out laughing.
"No, no no, not at all, not at all." We laughed. "He is being promoted to the other group because he is three years old now and fully developed to be in the next group."

Kt has been only about 2 weeks with us and I can clearly say that his parents were happy with us because we talked and discussed Kt regularly with them, something which was never done with them the whole last year, and his mother has even started smiling amiably at me as best as she is capable of. I am sure they must be happy now to learn that he is going to a bigger group. 

Octoberfest party

Yesterday we had our first October fest Party for the staff.

Cl, Mri, Nd, Bh, An, St the boss, even Mz were in the typical Bavarian dress while Stf, Mgt and I were the only ones in casual. Mks and Mk were also dressed in casuals. Nd is naturally beautiful with blond hair, blue eyes and nice features even though she is plump; the beautiful Bavarian dirndl made her look as pretty as Cinderella!

While we were on our way to the station I and Cl discovered that Mk and Nd are in love with each other and are in a relationship since three months! The entire school knew this and I and Cl were the only ones who didn't. We were so happy for them and congratulated them. Together they were looking as pretty as a picture and all through the party Mk just couldn't keep himself away from her, hugging and kissing her every now and then, sometimes tenderly sometimes almost violently passionate.

We had such fun!
I had been to Octoberfest several times before but this was the first time for me to be inside the tent where the real Octoberfest is celebrated. The environment was just crazy with a sea of people, beer jugs, lights, music, noise and heat. We all were just cracking silly jokes and laughing at everything without any reason.  They all drank so much! Even Mz who had earlier told us that she doesn't drink because she is a Muslim, drank a lot and starting behaving crazy. Mks had started to look drunk before his first jug was over and then he downed 3 more full jugs and was asking for more.
Knowing that I don't take beer or other hard drinks Stf had ordered coke for me.

The first 2 hrs we spent at the table where our seats had been reserved and the others all ate chicken while I, being a vegetarian, ate baked potato. Stf who is plus sized, complained she couldn't eat her chicken as her huge boobs were obstructing her and half of her fork contents kept falling in her cleavage. The others laughed and said she could let the fallen food remain there and use them as her mid night snack.
Cl doesn't like to drink much for fear of becoming drunk and losing control over herself (just like her to be so sane and sensible!) She ordered her beer half mixed with Sprite but couldn't finish even half. In addition she had to force herself to eat her huge chicken so that the beer she had drunk didn't hit her. So much of food and beer ended in making her deep Bavarian bodice too tight to breathe. "I can hardly breathe! But, shhhh, don't tell this to anyone." She giggled.
Once Mk who was sitting close to Mz innocently sneaked out his hand under Mz's bums to pick up something and Mz jumped with her face so horrified that we kept on laughing for another half hour till we thought we were now going to throw up all the liquid we had taken in.

Then we got up and I thought the party was over and we were going home, but the group lingered at another end of the tent and Stf ordered several bottles of Champagne, a very high quality of Champagne. They kept on downing one glass after another. Unfortunately there was no coke here for me so I drank nothing. I did taste Cl's beer once and the champagne too but didn't like the taste.

I left the party at about 9 pm while they all stayed late till 11 pm and all got drunk; even Cl! Mks had to forcefully leave the party as he had become too dangerously down.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself as everyone was doing even though I didn't drink. I was touched by Cl's caring attitude for me even in a crowded and busy place like the Octoberfest - but it is not surprising - we both are very caring towards each other. She kept asking me if I was enjoying, she offered me her beer jug to get a taste and even placed my order. She is really one of the most lovable persons on this earth.

On the whole I had a good time and will always remember my first October fest party. For all I know, it could well be my last as well! We still don't know how long we are to remain in Germany but whatever,
I have promised them ( and myself too) that if I chanced to remain here till the next Octoberfest I will definitely buy myself a dirndl...!

The Parents Meeting !

German schools and kindergartens have a Parents Committee which is formed by parents. The work of the committee is to facilitate smooth and right functioning of the school body and to help solve problems for school, parents or students.

Last year's parents meeting was a total fire affair when a lot of parents were present and they had cornered the school management rather like a pack of wolves hunting down a poor rabbit. We all know what happened to the committee after 6 months...
 Now the time for a new parents meeting! It sounded as exciting as a breadth stopping cricket match between India and Pakistan but no..!

Stf had done everything in her powers to make it as frigid as the Antarcticas!  As if the unfortunate dissolution of the parents committee, arbitrary cancellations of  the contracts if anyone dared to speak against the school management and immediate rustication of the innocent children wasn't enough, she even sent out two separate mails to all the parents telling them that Parents committee is "nothing important and it is only a procedure which need not be taken seriously and the parents are not supposed to work  in the committee at all. The formation of the committee is just a formality...."

So all the parents, at least all the old ones, knew that a committee, in this school, means NOTHING. Most of the parents hadn't even bothered to come. For about 70-80 students in our school, there were only about 25 people present as parents. From our previous group only Clt's mother, Bhv's mother and Fr's mother had come. From this year's group only Jr's both parents, On's mother and Mrn's mother had come. I noticed Mtn come in and take his seat in the group.

Stf started by introducing all the teachers. I was happily surprised that she addressed me rather dearly as "This is our xxx, the English teacher for xxx group. She is a very good teacher."
The introductions over, she repeated again that the school committee is not an important thing, and invited them to nominate names for the members. Nobody wanted to be a member. Mtn stood up and announced that he wanted to offer his name this time too. I truly appreciated this act of his and probably the others did too because we all clapped hard for him.

Then we left them alone to do the voting. When we came back the committee members had been chosen and Mtn had again become a committee member. There were others too but none from my group or Mk's group.

Only two three random questions were asked which Stf answered smoothly without getting the least bit ruffled and then the parents were told to go their respective classrooms to talk to their child's teacher about any thing they wanted to.
So I and Cl walked into our classroom with Mrn's mother, Fr's mother, On's mother and Jr's both parents at our heels where we talked to them for nearly one hour and then the meeting was over. It was really a cold affair.

While we were talking to the parents, Mtn came in. I was so happy to see him. I got up and congratulated him warmly and told him how happy I was to see him again in the committee member role. This is what we need and the school needs though it won't admit it. He was happy too. He had merely come to ask if we needed help with the mailing system which he had created last year.

I am deeply respectful of Mtn because he displays a different sort of courage, a different sort of fighting spirit, a different sort of practical optimism.
I fully understand the incense and the bruise which the others felt for being insulted due to which they quit. But Mtn not only was telling them not to quit but he himself didn't quit. They all had wanted to help the school, the parents and the children but it is ultimately Mtn's sticking even at the risk of some loss of ego, that is actually helping the school and all of us. This is real act of nobleness. He is undoubtedly a noble man!
Sometimes, an inch lost is a mile gained...!

Now, he will spend his next few days and personal time in intensively collecting new email ids to create the mailing system for parents and teachers of this school which we all need and nobody will even thank him and what's more, he looks like he doesn't even expect them to...!
Great work, Mtn! Keep it up..!!!

An Emergency meeting and Octoberfest party in our group!

Today there was an emergency meeting in the school at 8.00 am to discuss the parents Evening which we are going to have tomorrow. I couldn't reach the school so early. It has been decided that this year the meeting shall take place separately in each group and not all the groups together like last year because some problematic parents create trouble and in turn corrupt the new ones too.
So, first a presentation of all the teachers will be done together in front of all the parents, then parents committee will be selected by the parents from amongst themselves and then the parents can go to their respective group rooms to discuss the curriculum with the group teachers.

Today we celebrated the famous Octoberfest in our group!

The children had been instructed beforehand to come to school in special Bavarian dress. However only about four children (and they were all boys), wore the Bavarian dress which is a lederhose or embroidered leather half pants which has straps and halters and is worn with a check full sleeve shirt underneath.

We sang the famous October fest song and ate a snack of pretzel and butter and apple juice which looked like beer to me!!! That was when Mgt was unknowingly going to give Fr butter to which he is allergic.

After the snacks Cl made brown paper hearts which the children decorated with white and blue crepe paper the official colors of Bavaria and glitter glue. Then we wrote their names on the hearts with white ink which looked like sugar icing and even attached the string to make them look like a real Octoberfest heart. The real October fest heart is actually a hard baked ginger bread on which designs and names are written with sugar icing and people wear it in their necks.
It was a lengthy activity and involved a lot of work but as usual Mgt didn't help us with it. She just made one child make this heart and stuck the decoration right on top of the child's name so for a long time afterwords we kept trying to find out whose heart was it...!

Day after tomorrow, the school staff is going to October fest party after school. We all are so excited. Earlier I had declined the offer of joining them as I neither had the Bavarian dress nor I drink beer but everybody told me that all this is not necessary at all; My and Mz too don't drink beer and plenty others don't have the dirndls too.
Although cheap dirndls for 100 Euros are available too but there really is no point on spending so much money on something which I will never use again in life. 

Is Mgt sensing our dissatisfaction?

Yesterday Mgt was absent from school - and what a pleasure it was! Our group was quiet, well behaved, well disciplined and we managed them so well without any blunders or pee or poo accidents. I and Cl suddenly realized that we were so much better because she was not there.

Cl coyly admitted that she also got the same ideas as I that Mgt is after all not a good helper for us.

Today Mgt came and the usual thing started. When we started our morning circle time she disappeared with child (who had been crying and would have become quiet in less than a minute) and didn't come back until half an hour later. During the snack time the children were being given butter pretzel. She was going to smear butter on Fr's pretzel; I told her gently not to as he has allergy. She didn't hear me probably for the very next moment she picked up his pretzel and started putting butter on it. I was glad I saw this otherwise we could have been in greater trouble if he had eaten that. She was sorry and I was too that such a thing occurred. I am sure she hadn't heard me properly and this can happen with anybody. She also appeared a bit upset after that and I kept feeling sorry for her.

 During the toilet time we spoke to her that she shouldn't let the children go out of the toilet as they not only run and scream but we too get confused who finished toilet and who didn't. So the children were in and she was doing nothing to help us out with them, only chatting with the children. Cl had to go out for a minute and I was busy with another child whom I couldn't leave and in just half a minute Mgt took all the children out and they ran and screamed so much that few nearby teachers started complaining as it was sleeping time for the school. Even if it hadn't been sleeping time it is still against the general code of discipline. When I finally finished with the child and came out I was aghast to see that Mgt was lounging on the floor with a child in her arms who never even cries and was comfortably watching the noisy chaos. How could she do this when we had specifically told her not to?

We are wondering how long can this go on. It is a tricky situation  in which we are going to court trouble whether we keep silent or do something about this. She doesn't help us at all; when she does it creates further problem; when we tell her she feels hurt.

Today Mk was looking a bit upset. I asked him what was wrong and he merely said something has happened to upset him but didn't tell me clearly what it was.
'I understand. I am suffering from a bad situation too. And it is funny that children are not the only ones to stress me." I said.
"Are you talking about Mgt?" He asked instantly and I nodded silently.
"I know what you mean." He said. "I have worked with her for a few months and I know she is of no help. In fact she does such things that create further trouble. I could work better without her and was glad when she left me."

We are so stressed and overloaded...!

Our kindergarten world seems to have come to an interminable halt - in the toilets. It is toilet, toilet and toilet from the moment we enter the school to the moment we leave the school; and still then it comes to haunt us in our private time, family hours and dreams as well.

Last night I couldn't sleep at all and Cl told me she too had been unable to sleep and we both had been thinking incessantly about the unpleasant occurences of the school, in particular the toilets.

We are both so stressed, tense and fatigued both physically and mentally that we are unable to concentrate on anything else.

I realize it is all Stf's fault. She wants more money so she has taken in more children than permitted. There are 20 children in Mk and My's group but their children are older. We have only 12 children in our group. According to general practice in German kindergartens, only one new child joins at a time so that he gets plenty of personal attention and space to get assimilated in the group. The next new child can join only after at least 1 or two weeks.

Last year had been so fine! We had only 6 children when we started the group and every new child joined after 2 weeks so there was no tension and stress either for us, for the new child or for the group as well. And they were all between two - three years age group.

This time our group is more like a cow's herd- 7-8 children from  previous group and four new children who joined all together. To make matters worse most of them are on potty training without our consent so instead of getting familiar with our children, talking to them and discovering their individual character and personality and creating a loving bond with them, we are forced to think and talk and take them to toilets the whole time and quietening down the wailing new kids. Mgt is no help to us in any way, if anything she creates new problems. All our attention and time is being devoured by the toilet ritual and keeping the new kids quiet so we are unable to give any attention to the other children of the group. The whole time it is only Fr and his pee, Ksh and his pee, Mrn and her pee and "don't cry", Jr and "Don't cry", Sf and her pee and "Don't cry" and so on.

This year the parents are also different. Not at all the nice, courteous, gracious, understanding parents we had last session. We strive to communicate to them every little thing about their children's progress, write long welcome emails for them, toil to create their user group so that they could get information regarding school and our group but they don't even bother to appreciate us and say at least a "Thank you". If anything, they are always suspecting that we are not doing enough.

Next week, we have the parents evening! The same event when the new parents committee will be formed and parents will pose tough questions for the management to answer. Last year it had been particularly firy but this year I doubt it will be like that. Stf has been able to strike fear into all the parents' hearts by expelling the children of all those who dared speak against her. No parent will think of raising his head against Stf if he wants his child to be in this school. And all those parents who thought the world of me and Cl are all gone so there is nobody to speak in our favor either.

Till two weeks before I had not a cloud of doubt in my mind but now the prospect of the parents evening is striking terror in my heart. I am very apprehensive....

Mgt is ruining our group quality.

Today the moment I landed in school, I crashed into Fr's mother. She was very very angry..!

Yesterday why was he given diapers the whole day and still wet his underwear? He has also been scolded by the new teacher Mgt which is why he is very afraid to come to school now and he couldn't sleep the whole night because of his fear.
"I want only you to handle my child, not the new teacher. She is not a good teacher. She doesn't understand him the way you do. He should not go to her. Yesterday when I met her she said many unpleasant things to me also. I am very angry."

.....and I was not shocked.

Its true we kept him in diapers till the sleeping time but that was because we were waiting for him to poo. When he didn't till  a long time I took off his diaper but then he had to go to bed and given a diaper again. When he woke up I told Mgt not to put on his diaper; she didn't but blundered by not taking him to pee and so he soaked his underwear just when he was about to be picked up. His wet clothes were enough to make her temperature rise to boiling point; the rest of the damage was done by Mgt who told her unwisely point blank that Fr is not ready yet for potty training and needs to wear diapers again.

Mgt is making a lot of mistakes for our group...!
I like Mgt a lot and admire her for a number of personal qualities but this fact cannot be denied that her presence between myself and Cl is a discordant factor. She loves children a lot but has never worked with such young children before so her inefficiency hampers the group in not one or two but many respects. She disrupts the discipline in the group by encouraging the children to run and scream whether in class or in toilet; when we are handling the children on toilets she just keeps standing without even stopping them from playing with water and wetting themselves. When she changes diapers she drops their poo pieces everywhere without being aware of them. We are allowed to speak only German and English to the children - the German teachers speak only German and the English ones speak only English - but she talks Spanish to Spanish children and Italian to the Italian which is not a good thing to do since we aim to teach them English and German in school and not the children's mother tongue. Her way of talking with the parents is different - they get offended.
She treats the children like babies like carrying them in her arms all the times when they can too easily walk, run and jump, spoon feeding them when they are perfectly able to eat by themselves - result? Now many children want to be picked up in arms and carried even to the toilet!
She is also too slow. When she comes to help me wake up the children and dress them, by the time she wakes up one child and finishes his dressing, I get finished with eight or nine! The same for toilets and diaper changing.
Our strategies for dealing with different types of temperaments is also different. Both Cl and I accurately assess when we need to love and sympathize with a child and when we need to ignore so we can calm down and cheer up children when they are sad or unhappy by being gently loving and the deliberately attention demanding ones are ignored so they learn to behave themselves but Mgt doesn't let this happen; she keeps on loving them till they get too spoiled to handle.
Mrn is one such a spoilt girl. You look at her and she will burst out crying for absolutely NO reason. You ignore her and she is fine in a minute, playing and laughing just like any other kid. The same with Sf. Whenever she catches your eye she starts clutching her skirt, making a sorrowful, frightened, tortured face telling you she wants to pee. You don't look at her and she is fine - NO pee!. I wish Mgt would understand this and listen to me. She keeps cuddling and cosseting Mrn so much that Mrn cries the whole time. I told her many times she needs to be ignored for there is no reason for her to be so unhappy but Mgt doesn't listen.

Both I and Cl are afraid to voice our concerns even to each other. I don't like talking against Mgt as she is undoubtedly a nice person and Cl fears she can't talk to me against her as she is a nice friend of mine. And we both are too discreet - and afraid- to want to talk to her directly about these issues for fear of offending her. She is so much our senior. Even if she is absent for 10 minutes from our group our group is nice and on track. Her presence is ruining our quality on all grounds. 

Toilet woes !

So today was our bad day..!

It was raining hard outside - and inside as well!!! Children kept peeing in their clothes sometimes even twice as if they had just drunk a whole river. Mrn who is also on potty training pooped in her pants without letting us know and emulated Fr not only in producing pebbly stony poo like him but in also dropping several poo pebbles all the way from the classroom to the toilet. I wonder what do these kids eat that forms such  poo pebbles?
Changed and cleaned, she still couldn't stop crying and after shedding some hundred of liters of tears she still wanted to pee. She went and at the last minute couldn't undo the buttons of her clothes and peed a whole Nile river into her clothes, shoes and socks and still more and more and more until you could see a huge delta just minus the drainage into the ocean.

Then another girl, Sf who is a new girl, has a weird peeing habit. She just delights in peeing all the time even if she had been to toilet just five minutes ago. The parents agree she pees a lot but don't see anything unusual in it. So everyday she pees in the toilet at least 20 times and in her clothes at least once and still wets the bed whilst sleeping; today she wet her dress twice despite being to toilet a number of times. as if that was not enough she dropped a whole glass of water on to her clothes and had to be changed. Just 4 minutes before going to bed I made sure she had peed properly. As soon as she lay down she again wanted to go. I thought she was just being fussy and didn't let her go. Then 20 minutes later changed all the wet bed clothes, covers, her dress and all. I am going to give her a diaper from tomorrow during the sleeping time.

In addition to Fr, now Ksh has also started his potty training brigade from today. So before the first half of the day had passed by I had made so many trips to toilet that I was totally toilet sick. Not to mention at all that a new child Jr joined today who wailed so much that other five children decided to give him a stiff competition just to let him know that they could cry louder than he. And then I happened to tell Cl that Mrn was given a wrong slip by Mgt which is why she peed on herself - Mgt possibly heard me and became upset. I apologized to her many times and she assured me she wasn't upset because of this but I still suspect I had offended her.

While I was changing a child's wet clothes My was passing me by. I just casually commented,
"Oh, we have so many pee pee children today...I am tired."
"Ya," She smiled, "I hate children. Why don't you give them a diaper? I always give them a diaper."

Yes, I thought, that's why your children never learn anything. That's why H couldn't achieve a successful potty training and had developed such a great fear of peeing and pooping anywhere but in his diapers that for some time I was actually considering going to a doctor for advice.

Whatever, today I am bone weary, really really bone weary. Its a mercy that I love children and my students so much and have enough dedication , love and duty towards my work that even the disdainful tasks such as cleaning wet poopy children don't put me off much less repel or repulse me...

Finally Fr is on the right track now...

So Fr wears diapers in school and we keep running to the toilet every half hour so that he learns to pee only in the toilet and not even in his diaper.

Today on my own I decided to remove his diaper (after he had finished pooping in it in the morning) and kept him only in a slip the whole day so that if he wet it, it wouldn't be too much of pain to change or wash it and I would discover for how long he could control his pee. It worked!
We kept taking him to toilet just as frequently as before and he peed only in the toilet managing to keep his slip dry the whole day.

When his mother came in to pick him up, she was puzzled to see him in slip. I explained to her and she was very happy..!!!

From tomorrow we are going to follow the same plan of action.

Mgt, an Interesting Character

Mgt is a jumper teacher in our school. An actress by former profession, working off and on in TV, studying languages in university for a higher academic degree at the age of 50 something which she had gladly rejected in her student age and a teacher side by side, Mgt is really a nice, warm hearted and an interesting person.

She can speak more than 5 languages: German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, English and maybe even a few more.! This is something I would love to be able to do some day. She can play music, sing and dance; she looks remarkably smart even in her 50s. She handles children rather well, to be frank, a lot better than some of the others and you know which people I am talking about. She also has a habit of simplifying instructions so that they are easier to follow - something which I have perceived only in myself and feel frustrated at the bumbling way the others do it.

But her most remarkable and a bit funny characteristic is her ability for speaking continuously without giving you a clue of what she is trying to say. Another is to leave off her sentences unfinished hanging in mid air which are almost immediately replaced by a new sentences and they are often not connected. For example, if she wanted to say, she has throat pain she would say something like this:
"Aaah, yesterday we had ....some lessons....and you know it is brilliant how they sing now.Ya, they sing brilliantly. I admire them a lot. I sang a lot and while.... But, actually I was doing this what you call it...er...well ..Okay...I had a discuss with Rd, he is my well, first he was boyfriend a very good boyfriend but now he is ...I married him and he is now my husband. I told him I can't do it.I really cannot cannot actually talk. there is some...something in my throat like...like...what you say...pain.  Not a lot like it is very much and I can't eat and but I can eat. it is a little just a little something hurting like... I go to my doctor; he lives very far and but...Today I feel not so... up ...and so like..when you do this...get up in mornings and can't get up like somebody was heavy like ...I got up today in the morning and Rd said hey, you look different. I looked in the mirror and yes...I was like....! I don't know what is turning inside my..my stomach. I get it not good in my all body and singing Oh no, my throat is...doctor has said,all is okay with you but you must keep care and I am not allowed to ...er..er... I am not allowed to speak louder but the doctor has also said and he is a good doctor. I trust him a lot. he has said what did you do to make it bad and I said I don't know how this is happening..."

And you are left wondering what was she trying to tell you about; her music lesson, her husband, her doctor, her stomachache or her throat pain..! And dare you ask to clarify your doubt you will be led into another labyrinth of words and words till you realize that there is no way you could solve it.

There is however one remarkably easy way to avoid getting lost - keep nodding your head and keep dropping timely exclamations  "Oh...! Wow!, Really? How bad!

It is better to know what you are doing rather than to discover what she was doing..

Sorry Mgt, I am not making fun of you. You are really nice. Maybe it is just because English is a foreign language for you and Germans don't speak it very well...

Fr's Mama and Cl get upset

As per yesterday's decision, we gave him a pull up and kept taking him to toilet every half hour or 20 minutes leaving aside every other task. Still sometimes there was pee in his diaper. Looked like he was emptying his bladder even if there was a spoon or a half of pee in it. Once while he was peeing in the seat his bodysuit's back bottom part which is always quite long fell into the pee bowl and got wet. We changed him and decided that we will tell his mother today that since he is on potty training he can't be given bodysuits anymore as he can't manage them by himself; he needs to be given proper vests which he can pull up or down himself.

The chance to tell this didn't arise. The moment she walked in and saw the bundle of wet bodysuit she flew into a temper. She stormed into the classroom where Cl was and demanded in an insultingly loud, insolent and angry tones that how did his bodysuit get wet. Cl tried explaining but she wasn't ready to listen and made some comments which meant she was sure we were not taking him to toilet. Knowing her character, I had anticipated something of this kind due to which even though it was my time to go home I had still been lingering around just to talk to her and avoid any ugly situation. But by the time I entered into the argument between Cl and her Cl had already taken offence. She looked hurt, angry and so upset that I really felt very bad for her.  

The situation was bad but somehow due to my straightforward and crystal clear talking the mother's anger and confusion cleared in a minute and she started apologizing to Cl but Cl excused herself and went inside really bruised and incensed. I tried my best to pacify both of them but personally I feel Cl has a right to be angry at being accused and mistrusted like this. We have worked so hard to deliver maximum satisfaction to children and parents but if they still distrust us and actually think that we shirk from our duty than that's just not done.

I later saw the mother talk to My and then go into the office to talk to Stf. Maybe she was only talking about something else or maybe complaining about us regarding this incident...I shall discover on Monday.

First Meeting in the New Session

Today was our first meeting of the new session. Not that I expected anything new.

The biggest news is Mz is getting married to her Nepalese boyfriend this October. I wish her good luck.

As usual there was nothing of substance to discuss in the meeting except plain gossip" My mom believes strongly in Astrology.","I have got a lovely tan.","Where did you get your haircut from?" You begin to wonder if you are in an official meeting or in a housewives monthly get -together.

 My timings in the school are from 9 to 2 pm. I arrive 15-20 minutes early everyday and start working with children immediately while several times I go home late due to discussing children's issues with their parents when they come to pick up their children at 2 pm. I asked Mz if I needed to include this extra time in the extra time log sheet. She replied that since my timings were from 9 to 2 pm I need not start working before 9 am and I need not talk to parents at all; if there is any issue to be discussed they should make an appointment to talk to the teachers.

This just won't work for me. Everyday I strive to reach my classroom as early as I can because that's the time most of the children arrive; the new ones are mostly wailing; while there are plenty of other teachers also in the room who look after all the children irrespective of their group, still small children tend to be more attached to their group teachers and respond to them rather than other teachers. In fact the new ones when they enter the class and do not see their group teachers often take serious fright and want to run away. Of course Cl is also there but I feel bad to imagine her managing all the new children all alone.

And then there is the task of talking to the parents. Nobody in the school likes to talk to parents except I and Cl. There are so many important communications to be done with them and informing them of how their child is doing. It seems easier and right to me to keep giving regular reports of the children to the parents whenever I chance upon them rather than mechanically waiting for an interview to tell the same thing which will in all certainty lose their impact and importance due to lapse of time. I agree it is not very important but it is good.

And also because that's the only time I ever get to even see the parents. I have just realized that if I don't talk to parents they may just never know who the hell I am in the school...

For the first time Mz is right. It would have seemed like blatant exploitation if she had said I needed to come earlier and go later without adding it all up as extra time. I am glad it is completely up to me to devote my extra time according to my convenience. 

Fr the poopy boy

Fr is a super super cute little Spanish boy who is barely two years and 4 months old now. He was admitted in our group about 3 months ago and not only us but the entire staff instantly fell in love with him. His mother is also a nice lady but Cl and I had often sensed that she worries a lot regarding Fr and no matter how much she is reassured she just continues to worry.

Well, after the summer vacation, we learnt with some shock that from now on Fr won't be wearing diapers anymore. He seemed hardly capable of handling potty training as he still doesn't speak much, doesn't understand what toilet is all about and is still quite dependent in all his activities.

So since the first day of the new session we have only been changing his wet clothes the whole day long. He never tells us when he wants to pee and the mother suffers a massive heart attack every time she sees the bundle of wet clothes he produces everyday.
In addition to pee there is also the poo sometimes and while pee soaked clothes can still be handled without too much misgiving, poo laden clothes certainly cannot be. It was almost becoming impossible for us to manage the group with three new wailing children ready to escape from the classroom if you as much as blinked and remembering to take Fr frequently to the toilet and still changing his wet clothes..

Yesterday it just crossed the limits. During our morning circle time, we discovered that he had heavily soaked himself including the shoes - he had been to the toilet only about half an hour ago! Mg who is an extra teacher with us these days took him to toilet to change him when we suddenly noticed that he had also dropped several pebble like hard and stony poo pieces in the classroom!
The whole class was thrown in a great confusion and commotion! One of us had to confine the rest of the children to one corner (with great pains as they are new so they don't listen and tend to run away) while the other  cleaned out only to discover that there were several more poo droppings all the way from our classroom to the toilet with many now already firmly stuck on children's or teachers's shoe soles...!
We were so fed up that we decided to give him a diaper after all. We are not here to clean one single child's poo and pee the whole day long everyday while ignoring all the other children of our group.

When his mother came to pick him up she was terribly put out. We discussed the matter with her for a long time but she couldn't understand if he can follow potty training at home why can't he in school without considering that the basic environment is totally different at both the places which makes all the differences in behavior. We sense that she is very impatient and wants quick results but potty training doesn't happen overnight. Every child is different and achieves this training at different pace. Two years is just the right age to start potty training but it is so wrong to suddenly stop giving diapers to a two year old child who has never been without them even for an hour and then expect that he will be able to hold his pee or poo till he gets a toilet chair to relieve himself as he were a 6-7 year old child.

While we were talking he again started dropping those pebbly poo pieces every where which looked like goat droppings if you know what I mean until a real bog boulder the size of an apple dropped down near our feet. I couldn't believe myself. I had myself taken him to the toilet just 15 minutes ago. I told her so and she clearly didn't believe me....She thinks and lets it appear on her face that we don't take him to toilet often enough which is why he is forced to pee in his clothes.

Well, so considering the circumstances I and Cl decided that we would give him diaper again but continue to make the toilet trips every half hour or so until he naturally understands that he has to pee only in the toilet. We shall continue to do this until we start getting dry diapers from him which will be an indication that he understands now.Of course at home he can be kept totally without diapers. She wasn't happy with this decision but we did't have any choice.

So Fr and his poo was the talk of the school the entire day. Mks had to hunt in the whole school to clean the poo pebbles to save them from travelling to other places and remarked " Hey, that boy really poops!"

The First Day of the New Session

Today, finally the school reopened...!

It was raining heavily since last night - a perfect weather to go to school. Since my own kindergarten days I have always loved going to school when it's raining. There's something in the dark skies and the rains that makes everything singular and special to me.

I was extremely happy to be back. I met everyone and greeted them fondly. Cl really is like me a lot - she too was happy like me to be back and we hugged each other in such fondness that tears sprang to our eyes. Despite our exciting holidays we both had missed the school life and each other in equal measure. She is such a darling! I really love her.

Mgt has also come back. There were a few new faces to be seen in the staff. It will take me some time to remember their names. One new teacher is coming to our group too. Maybe we'll see her tomorrow or any other day this week.

We have three new kids in our class and the rest are from the smaller group. A new boy Ja looks and even  behaves a lot like Mk the  little boy in our class in the last session who had left the school suddenly. J is a square and sturdily built, blond boy who likes to be independent and exert all the masculinity he is capable of. Even though it was his first day he didn't cry at all and enjoyed all our activities. I have already started loving him so much and even more so because he reminds me of Mk in each and everything.
The other kids have been promoted to our group from their previous group so they were well acquainted with the school ways but still appeared lost and insecure due to new classroom and new teachers. Fr, the cute little Spanish boy, was the only one who felt completely at his ease and didn't trouble at all.

We also had a hurried little staff meeting today during the school time when most of the children were sleeping. Stf just talked about some routine stuff like cleaning, admissions etc. She said we are running in loss so we need to take in as many children as we are capable of to increase the inflow of money.

On the whole it was a hectic day; all the furniture and toys and other important things were quite in disarray and so many important tasks had to be accomplished with three new children and their parents right on top of our heads but whatever I am not complaining. I am extremely happy to be back and just loving it...!

End of Summer Vacation

My summer vacation is soon about to end, this being the last week of the holidays. I love my holidays but at the same time I don't like staying away from work and school...

I had made a few resolutions for myself for the summer vacation but I haven't kept any of them. I didn't exercise everyday as I had promised, didn't lose a single kilo, didn't start writing exercise with H and didn't sleep a lot which I used to tell myself that I would everyday of my hols.

And I think of school everyday. I wonder how the others are getting along with their vacation. Cl had gone to Tanzania, Mks to US, and Stf to Caribbean  Islands.

Miffed with my reduced salary since the January of this year, I had developed a practice of looking into vacancies in other schools in the city. I got calls for interview from two schools but I suddenly didn't want to leave this school at all...

Today again I had to go for an interview but I have just mailed them that I do not want to consider the vacancy anymore. I feel rather happy to be working in a large, spacious, beautiful school with a rather large student population as compared to other schools here which are tiny 2-3 room affair, 6-7 teacher staff and only about 15-20 students all in all. I have really grown fond of all the staff members here and realize that the fact that I and H both are together in this school is a great source of comfort and convenience to me which may not be possible in other schools.

Well, I am waiting for the school to reopen fast. I want to get back to work, business, children, staff, fun, intrigues and storms in teacups. They make life interesting and purposeful. And I have made a few resolutions again for the new session. I had better write them down so as not to forget them at my convenience and recall them with plenty of regret and guilt only on the eve of some other holiday.

1. I shall not eat anything in the school to help maintain my weight at least if not to lose some kilos. I had lately started eating a lot especially cakes owing to b'day parties of children, and also sampling new dishes.

2. I shall use the metro line which is farthest from my home than the one which is nearer so as to encourage more walking exercise for myself.

3. I shall start drinking lemon honey tea twice everyday. ( or at least once a day)

4. I shall try my best to follow a simple exercise regimen at least 3-4 times a week. This one is difficult as my schedule has really no free time and when it does have I am totally worn out by that time.

5. It is futile to say I will ever relinquish coffee because I tried that soooo many times and I always came back to it.

For the present, I have only these. Let's see how much I can stick to them...

Waiting impatiently for the school to reopen again....!!!