Things I learned in Preschool...

Although I am embarrassingly depressed over the fact that my part-time job at the CYC has come to a heartbreaking end, I must reflect upon the many life lessons I learned while working with a school full of three and four year old children.
 Take notes:

... Any problem can be solved with a "I don't like when you _______ because I feel _______"  statement and a hug. 

... 'Brussels Sprouts' is a place, not a food, ie, "I am moving to Brussels Sprouts. They have good chocolate there."
... Hamsters bite. 
... And can squeeze their furry little bodies under door cracks. Subsequently, they can also survive a nine-day game of hide-and-seek. 

... Crossing the monkey bars completely and without assistance is a right of passage. 

... I am now fluent in Sign Language for every animal on the farm. 
... "Feliz Navidad" actually sounds better when you don't know the real lyrics.  "Police Na Na Na" is equally, if not more, heartwarming. 

... Sushi now comes in lunch boxes. And kids enjoy it. Who knew?
... If a five-minute warning is not given before a transition, no one is expected to move or change. It's only fair. 
... I will have to name my future classroom. 
How will I ever address the entire class without yelling "Yellow Rooooom. Yellow Roooooom, FIVE MORE MIIIINUTESSSSS"? Also, how will anyone ever know who I am talking about without a formal title like "Yellow Roomers?" 

... Pope Benedict's favorite drink is allegedly Orange Fanta.  
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Alas, the things I learned from the preschoolers will endure, even if my job did not.

XOXO, 

            Ms. Alensis 

It's OK ...

... if my boyfriend and I both have major crushes ... on the same person ... because that person is Carrie Underwood. In the words of C, "Carrie Underwood's legs are pure art." Can I get an amen? I'm working on getting there one day...

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... that I've let myself get so stressed out, and have been on such a junk food binge that my face is all kinds of broken out.  OK, maybe that's not OK, but this conversation with my yellow roomer makes it slightly better(?):

"Mrs. Lensis, did you ever have da chicken's pox?"

Nope, actually I've never had Chicken Pox. Can you believe it?

"Den how come dere is dots on your face?"

Well, Beauty... because sometimes that just happens when people grow up.

{Enjoy innocence and pre-pubescent youth while you have it, my Yellow Roomers! xoxo}

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... that with the Holiday Season comes all self-control and motivation in regards to healthy eating. Although I could use someone to motivate me a little - currently accepting applications for personal motivator to get me through the holidays. 

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... to be absolutely over Taylor Swift. Enough is enough. The teenaged girl squeels and cries were cute three years ago, but you've been on the scene way too long now for it to be acceptable to scream like a child every time you receive an award. Nor is it acceptable to read a thank-you speech off the sharpie ink on your arm.  If you are privileged enough to work with Tim McGraw (Tim McGraw for Gosh sake!), you do not need to write his name on your hand like a last minute homework assignment. Time to find some grace and composure if you are going to walk across that stage in the same category as female musical legends. 

... that Martina McBride could sing "Happy Birthday" and it would bring tears to my eyes.  It also doesn't help that "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" is one of the most personal and beautifully written songs on the radio today. 

... that I was obviously watching the CMA's all night instead of doing anything on my to-do list. OH WELL! 

Friday the 13th

So rumor has it that today is the only "13th" of the month that lands on a Friday this year. I'd believe it.  Considering I woke up at 6:45 to study, then stepped outside to walk to my 8:00 exam to discover it is the first cold and rainy day in a string of perpetually beautifully sunny days.

Rest assured, my Friday got increasingly better.  Once I finished the exam (composed of 5 essay questions - 2 of which I had no idea how to answer) I had a quick sweat sesh with my girl Ashie to work off any remaining stress. (Insert another 4 hours of studying here that I would rather just forget) 

Around 3:00 I headed to the CYC for my last hours in the Yellow Room for the semester.  Really really sad. All I kept thinking about was what on Earth I would blog about for the next month away from the kiddies?! But seriously...I can't believe half of my munchkins will be going to Kindergarten next year ... and even the half that will be back in the Yellow Room I won't see as much as I did this year due to my less-than-accommodating class schedule for next semester. 

To end my Yellow Room adventure I'll sum up the afternoon's events:

3:30 pm - I am greeted with three running-start-hugs. =]

3:31 pm - "Ms Alensis do you know today is your last day?" 

(I may or may not have teared up answering yes)

3:45 pm - Sang the Insect version of "Head,Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

 ... "Head, Thorax Ab-dom-en, Ab-do-men."

3:50 pm - Passed around a centipede to observe during Circle Time.

3:50 pm and 30 seconds - Centipede escapes. Screams and Cries ensue.

3:51 pm: Little Man accidentally smushes centipede with hand in effort to save it. Circle time is over.

4:00 pm: Cutie-Patootie, Munchkin and Girlygirl present me with a card (signed by all my kiddies with pictures!) and a gift bag. I feel so loved :) 

Aaaah I miss them already! 

Anyway, back to being a real college student and studying until my brain fries itself to a crisp, or my 8am and 4pm exams are complete. Whichever comes first. (and yes, 8am on a Saturday. They are trying to torture us.)

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Glad it's almost over. 

xxoo 

Chocoholism

One week has officially come and gone since Easter, and I am officially out of chocolate. This is the worst, and best news of the week.  I probably could have drowned in the massive amount of cocoa I ingested. My taste buds were happy, my scale was not.  

Coincidentally, the same day I ate my last chocolate egg, a little man in the yellow room got a bloody nose. Don't see a correlation? Let the little man explain for you --

Me: Little man*, Were you picking your nose too hard again? **

Little Man: No. My mom gave me choc-o-lutt and I got blood yest-a-day. 

Me: Oh? So you ate chocolate and then your nose startled bleeding?

Little Man: Yes. Choc-o-lutt makes you get blood. 

Interesting. Completely false, but interesting strategy to limit household candy consumption. If this was in fact true, I would have died days ago from immense Hershey-induced hemorrhaging. Maybe my mom should have told me bloody noses were a direct consequence of eating choc-o-lutt. Maybe then my scale would be happier with me.

Sometimes I wish I still held the same naive view of the world my Yellow-Roomers do.

*Names were changed to protect the innocence of Yellow-Roomers
** Yes, this is actually a problem we encounter daily.  Some students find entertainment in shoving tissues (or bare fingers) so far up their nose-holes that they bleed. Gross, indeed. 

Preschool Flattery

In a matter of 2 seconds and 1 full breath, I was greeted in the yellow room today with,

 "Ms Alensis remember when you came yesterday and I said hi I wanted ice pops but we played inside then outside and you looked pretty, where did you get all of those jewels, will you rub my back?" 

Shocked and impressed with the munchkin's ability to recall, summarize, flatter, and inquire all within the limits of one long run-on sentence without breathing, there was only one way I could respond; I laughed.

"Ms Alensis why you laugh?" 

I don't know, munchkin, you just make me happy.


I can appreciate that he's learning to butter up the women in his life prior to asking favors.  I wonder if he knows this is the exact tactic my boyfriend uses to get everything he asks of me.