I was Absent from school.

Yesterday I hadn't gone to school as I had an appointment for Visa. There were very few teachers in the school so my group was merged with My's group which unsettled all the children and they behaved crazily the whole day.

Today My complained that I shouldn't make morning appointments as they mean getting absent from school. I laughed it aside and told her that our VISA appointments are arranged by my husband's company agents and not us so we cannot choose appointment time.

Mz has come back from her honeymoon.

I talked to Jn. I just told him that I had heard he had an argument with Mks. I didn't tell him anything what he had been saying to him. And he too was pretty cool enough. He didn't mind it very much, at least not too much. I was so so so very glad about this.
"Basically, I don't like this place; it is much too chaotic and disorganizsed. I feel I am not able to work here the way I want to but....it's okay."
I just dropped him a word of advise that he shouldn't discuss his religious views and opinions with others as people don't understand and then make fun. He nodded slowly. Apparently he was trying to recall what he had said to whom.
"Yes....I understand..."
"Jn, you are such a nice person. I only want you to be happy wherever you are. That's all."

While we were this chatting Mks came along. he stared at me.
"Don't you want to go home? You are half an hour late." He reproached.
"I was just talking to Jn that tomorrow I have a very big festival. I would like to excuse myself from the meeting."
"Stf is in the office. Go and ask her RIGHT NOW. If you ask Mz or My they may not allow you but Stf can. Your festival is important to you."
"I would hate to bring in my festivals on my work place." I protested.
"Well, when we have our Christmas, we take 15 days holiday; you are only absenting yourself from a meeting in the evening. Go and ask Stf now"
"Okay, and if she drives the topic to something else, I will come back and get you."
"Agreed."

I went in and talked to Stf and she was perfectly fine with it. "Oh, you need not worry. The meeting is not important. It is only to tell some teachers how to send the emails etc. but your group is already doing that so no problem."\
was so glad. I went to Mks then and said my thanks to him.

Since yesterday our group's sleeping room has been changed and now our children no longer sleep together with Mks' children. The fact that we both had to supervise our sleeping children in the same area had developed a friendship between me and him which, I know, would never have developed otherwise. We used to help each other in everything, play silly pranks on each other and when the children slept we used to chat. He had admitted the he had told me things which he had never to anyone else before. ( well, stuff like having visions of God and crying for Him, his childhood etc.)

Tomorrow we have Halloween party in school. Everybody has to go dressed up in Halloween costume. I plan to dress up as a witch with black mask, horns on my black casuals and false teeth.

Jn and Mks had an Argument

Today Jn and Mks had a sort of argument and made Mks nearly lose all his temper.

There's a little devil of a boy Pt in Mks's group who is far worse than you can imagine. He just knows how to snap "No" very defiantly and rudely to everyone and to everything. He is British too...!
Well, so he wasn't eating his lunch and throwing ugly tantrums. Mks decided to force a spoonful in his mouth but Pt spat out the contents like a volcano lava. Jn entered the classroom just at that moment and was shocked to see such a big child being forcefed.
"Hey, you can't force feed such a big child.That is wrong." He exclaimed.
"Don't tell me what I have to do; I am his teacher. Okay?" Mks remarked coolly.
"Might be, but I am a qualified teacher. I know that is wrong. You can't do like that." Jn reiterated.
This made Mks fly into an ugly rage.

He was so very very upset and insulted at being dictated and that too by no other than Jn whom he already disdains and ridicules due to his religious habits, his following Hindu Gods in whom Mks, naturally, has no belief and for being a soft, gentle kind of guy; it is no secret - Mks openly prides himself on being the only male in the whole kindergarten; the other men he doesn't regard as men at all.

He fumed and raved and ranted for a long time against him. It was hard for me to hear all that because I am on good terms with Jn too. I do believe it was somewhat wrong of him to address Mks like that, but calling Jn as stupid and effeminate was too much.

"He is a horrible teacher. He stuffs earplugs in his ear canals and can't hear how loud his children are shouting and  then complains he has a very rowdy group. He doesn't know how to control them. Yesterday he was in the preschool and when the children became too much for him, he played some stupid video on his iphone. Come on, man. Admit, you could not control them through any other means. He is a stupid man. He tries to be a priest when he cannot even be at least a teacher..."

I tried to talk him out of this wrath.

'Well, we all are here to work and not to make friends or enemies. So if he is not your friend, he is neither your enemy. Sometimes out of provocation, irritation, stress or whatever, we end up saying things we do not mean and regret later. Best is to forget what he said. He can't have meant to be rude to you or to anyone. He is a very peaceful, gentle, calm sort of guy. Maybe he was just too overworked and stressed to let such a remark escape from him.
This is nothing compared to what Mz had said 2-3 times to me..." I said.
"What did Mz say to you?" He ask curiously.
'Well, I was in the kitchen and picked up her dish by mistake. She commented loudly that she would mix pig meat and cow meat in H's food and make him eat that and I would never even know about it-"
"-what? She said THAT? That's so offensive!"
"Yes. Than on one occasion Cl was absent and I was alone with my group and she sent some teacher to my group not to help me out but because she said I could not be trusted to be alone with the kids; and that was so very very insulting. I have by far so much experience and qualification and she tells me she can't leave me alone with the kids because I am not trustable enough? I wanted to kill her or kill myself for this....!"

"Oh God, this is too much. Luckily a new English teacher is coming to Mk's group and Jn will go to Mz's group. I hope he gives Mz a hard time with his stupidities - then Mz will chuck him out."

My heart almost skipped a beat at such a vengeful idea in his mind...!

Ktc is giving trouble

Ever since Ktc has gone in the new group. i.e. Mks/ My's group he has started giving trouble and it is pee pee trouble..! Although being fully toilet trained many many months ago, he now manages to pee in his clothes everyday and sometimes several times a day. Yesterday he peed on himself so many times that My was in tears and stock of spare clothes both in his personal basket as well as the school drawer ran out. We had nothing to make him wear.

It was surprising because this had never happened when he was with us. Both Cl and I know the answer but we are quiet. Whom to say and what??

When Ktc was with us I had noticed that he wore ultra tight clothes. He is a very healthy and strong boy and ideally should be wearing size 110 or at least 104 but actually wears 92 which is several size smaller and wrong for him. Whether his parents think it is okay or simply are unaware what should be okay, I do not know. His underwears, jeans and leggings used to be so tight that he was unable to slip them down to be able to do pee. So we always had to help him out with it. 

I had informed this to his father who is a very nice gentleman but the very next week he went to another group and so it ceased to be my problem.

Mks and My are not that loving and caring to the kids. They lead the children to toilets and tell them to go do pee. They do help of course when it is needed but still  Ktc has been escaping their attention steadily up till now. So poor fellow wants to pee but is unable to tell them that he wants his trousers to be pulled down nor do they even notice that he has only been loitering around the toilets without peeing. They still do not know what's wrong with his clothes and then get a shock of their lives when he wets his clothes several times a day.! They don't find anything amiss that a big enough child doesn't feel comfortable enough to approach them to communicate his needs.

 

Yesterday while coming to school, I accidentally met his father.  He was upset too with this and had no idea why this was happening. I repeated that he needed to wear bigger size clothes. I also discussed this with Mks but I got a feeling that Mks did not like that I should be talking to parents of his group so I have decided that I shan't pick up this subject again with him. Cl thinks the same too. She says it is their problem now. They should know what is wrong and why it is happening. After all it never happened with us and there is a good reason for that.

Today when Mks brought his children in for sleeping I noticed that he asked Ktc if he wanted to go to pee. Ktc nodded. 

"Then go to the toilet, man, and do pee pee." He ordered loudly in an impatient tone. Ktc immediately complied without a word and went out. 5-10 minutes later he returned, got undressed with Mks's help and went to sleep. Half an hour later a large stream of pee was flowing from under his bed like a big rain swollen river....!!!

"Oh, shit man. Ktc has peed again! Oh no. How could this be? He went to toilet just half an hour ago. I myself sent him. I swear, there is something wrong with this boy. ...How can he pee so many times a day and sooo much?"

In addition to Ktc, Ml also has been peeing in her clothes rather often and she too didn't do this when she was in our group. And Pr too.....

Another funny thing is when Mk's children need any help like opening buttons, pulling out a tshirt etc they feel afraid to go to him; instead they come to me to seek help and I admit I find it flattering. The other day My was complaining that her children don't speak anything, no 'Sorry', 'Thank you', no words, nothing. They all spoke so much when they were with us. Both Cl and I think its because both My and Mks are very harsh and strict teachers so they are afraid of them and don't open up.

I wonder if the parents are realizing this too....

Official Leave

I need a day off from work to apply for Visa renewal. Legally, leave for such reasons are called official leaves and are not counted as a leave at all. The last time when I had availed a leave for filing my work permit I was given an official leave.

I was sure Stf would have no problem in giving one to me again, especially as right now we are dangerously short of English teachers in the school having only 4 instead of 7-8 English teachers.
But Stf is Stf - a really tough businesswoman. She spoke to me in tones and expressions that were far sweeter than honey yet as firm, unchangeable and immovable as a rock.
"I am sorry but I can't give you any official leave. You are a very special teacher for us. We keep your child free of charge. You know you don't have to pay even for his food. So considering this you must work overtime for being absent from work."

I felt terribly sour after this. I am weary of hearing "because your child is receiving free education you won't be paid for Christmas overtime, any other normal overtime, vacation etc etc." But probably I shouldn't complain as this is also the most handsome feature of my service here....and the fact that this school is a very prestigious, renowned, influential and status institution. I am singularly proud of working here...

Sleep Complaint

Previously our group had a separate sleeping room, a cosy little room lined with baby beds with numerous paper stars hanging from the ceiling. Then the departure of As brought about many changes and one of them was the shuffling which converted this sleeping room into staff room,, the old staff room became the science lab and a deep, dark,  hideously interiored enclosed section of the gym became my new sleeping room which neither I liked nor did the children for a variety of reasons. For one, it gets a full load of noise from the children of the other group who also sleep in the same gym but outside the enclosure. And then it is so hot that the children get soaking wet with sweat. The enclosure in itself is so wildly made with fierce colors, irregular and jutting out beams and wedges and some dozens of criminal looking bats hung from the ceiling that should appear frightening to our little children.
I forgot to mention, the place was meant to act as a horror castle or some such thing several years ago when our school was a children's play place....!!

Well, yesterday the school received an email from some anonymous parents complaining that this new sleeping place be changed to the previous one as the children are unable to sleep in it.

We are surprised who could have sent this email. I feel my parents cannot complain because all the children in my group sleep well enough. The only child who has difficulty falling asleep is JL but then he is a new admission who started coming to this school barely 6 weeks ago so his parents can't even dream that our group once had a separate sleeping room. However my last year students who have now passed on to Mks and My's group don't sleep at all; they keep lying awake on their beds tossing and turning, and playing and talking in whispers all the time while they all used to sleep pretty well when they were in my group and I was in charge of their sleeping time.
 I suspect it is Clt's mother who has complained. She was very particular that Clt should sleep well in school. Whenever I was on leave or on vacation, she never slept and always did when I was in charge. Her mother used to joke that whenever Clt doesn't sleep, she can correctly guess I must been have been absent from school. Now, the same Clt never sleeps. Her mother had even requested Mks once to try to make her sleep somehow as she becomes too tired by evening. That day Mks shouted at her to go to sleep, as a result, Clt being an extremely sensitive, shy and touchy child burst out crying and wept so badly that I had to step in to calm her down. She immediately responded to me and slept well for next two days - and two days only - then back on the same track...

The funny thing is her little sister Fd is in my group now. Fd was in the habit of being extremely active and playful in bed and tried her best to avoid sleeping but I ensured that she slept and so she sleeps nicely.

Ll is finally settling down...!

The new girl Ll is now three weeks old in our group if we remember that she comes only three days a week and then was absent for one whole week due to illness and she is nowhere close to even starting to settle down. It is normal for children not to leave their parents; it is however not normal for parents to not want to leave their children - and that in a kindergarten !

The second day when we had planned to separate her, she was doing fine and maybe would've done fine but she glimpsed her mommy and cried so much till her mother had to come in to calm her down. Since then her mommy appears more frightened of the separation than the child. So we are spending our entire school day with her constantly at our elbows. Ll is a highly demanding child and knows how to get her way. Now of course she knows that if she cries loud and hysterical enough, mommy will show up, so whenever we try disappearing her mommy, her cries bring her back.
She is also extremely active, willful, stubborn and extremely lacking in discipline, respect for elders and obedience. So whenever you tell her something to do, a defiant, insolent, high sounding "No" is hurled at you which gathers more and more rudeness as you sound more and more polite and loving.

Today finally the mother too started showing signs of growing impatience at her demands. I talked to her and told her that although we know that if she is separated now she will cry of course but will eventually be fine within 2 days, but we sense that the mother won't feel comfortable so we aren't stressing. We want Ll as well as her, both to be comfortable with us and school. She looked so relieved and gracious.
Then I told her that today after her lunch, she should let Ll play in the dummy kitchen as she loves playing with Tea set and other kitchen stuff at home; and to talk to her about the school the whole day long at home. Together these two would help her in accepting the school in a more positive manner instead of associating it with a place where she must remain without her mommy.
And my tips worked!

Today the mother child duo was present. I tried taking her in my lap in front of her mother sitting at just an arm's distance from me, but she screamed and screamed and became quiet only when she sat near her. This was plain obstinacy. It couldn't be fear or apprehension. She just wanted to be near her mama that's all.  After the morning circle time, we took her along with the class to toilet and I instructed the mother not to accompany us while I kept Ll's mind thoroughly distracted and she was fine! Then we just smuggled the mother out of the classroom and Ll for the first time spent the whole day with us without crying, only occasionally recalling her mommy, and was really fine. She even started talking and playing with the other children.

It is a fact that the longer the parents stay with the children in the school thinking they are helping in settling down, they are actually not. If anything, it only delays the settling period because first the child has to learn that he is expected to come to this new place everyday and do things in a certain way which are different from home. And then he has to learn that his parents might leave him here.for short periods of time, and then the shocker that he must remain here absolutely without his parents. Letting parents stay longer only allows the child to think that they will forever be present and so he suffers a bigger shock when they don't come anymore. Isn't it more agonizing for poor children? It is better to initiate the separation from second day first for a short duration and then for long.

This makes me wonder...! In the group, almost all the decisions are made by me, all strategies are carved by me, all advises and tips are offered by me, all reasons are given by me. Cl merely carries them out but is called the group leader because she is the German teacher. I am glad that my group and its success and happiness is basically shaped by me and I can safely admit that it is fully my creation. However, not being too proud, I must also remember that it takes two hands to clap. If Cl was not such an obedient, respectful colleague, I might not have achieved this success at all. 

Viral Fever attack

The school is in the grips of a fever virus again...! Many teachers and children are absent resulting in a terrifying shortage of teachers because most of them are ill. Its weird how we disinfect our hands after every toilet visit, use generous disinfectants on surfaces used even for eating purposes, all bed lines are laundered everyday and yet there are such frequent infection visitations in schools.

I and H both fell ill and had to be away from the school for 5 days.

When I returned to work today I was warmly welcomed by all the teachers and Cl gave me an emotional hug, she was so happy to see me back. A lot of teachers are still away and we enter the school building wondering whose turn will it be today to fall ill....

There is no sign of Mri returning after her unfortunate deportation to Canada. Stf has already started looking for her replacement but it is by no means easy to find a qualified English teacher in Germany...

Mz has got married and is away to Thailand for her honeymoon..!

Meanwhile Mgt has gone. What a great relief!
Shortage of teachers had forced Mgt to render her dumb services to the other groups too which only helped people discover she was a total nuisance. Nobody liked her and nobody welcomed her; one day when I was absent, the teachers were trying to decide in which group to send her and everybody said "No, no no, not Mgt, please, not Mgt. I would rather be alone than have her in my group..."
In her last days she had started sensing this unwelcome for she had appeared hurt, embarrassed and a bit bruised all over.

After a few months she will come back again but not if some teachers broach this subject to Stf to decide whether to terminate her contract with the school.
I still feel bad for her...but happy nevertheless that she is no longer here.