The Prep Playground..

Nothing could have prepared me for today. The experiences I had in just half an hour were truly remarkable.

It’s started as a normal Thursday, well, as normal as normal is now. An 8km walk, breakfast, online classes and more.

However, today was going to be different. I had a ‘duty’ or ‘super’ as we call it. I had to look after the students in the prep playground for 35 minutes. Lunchtime.

Little did I know what this entailed.

I walk onto campus ready for whatever is ahead. In long pants, a sports top and trainers. After all the preps are crazy so who knows what lunchtime would look like.

I arrive and they are all calmly sitting eating lunch. This was such a false way of leading me into the time ahead. 12:30pm arrives and the teachers literally disappear. I mean disappeared. Doors shut, silence and I was alone. Completely alone. In the blink of an eye they left me in charge of the young ones! Their beady eyes now looking at me, the air of challenge ahead…. I could feel it…

It was like magic! The teachers disappearing! Wish I could learn that trick!

Little ‘H’ had to sit in the naughty chair for 10 minutes as he had tried to strangle someone, Miss ‘A’ had 15 minutes as she didn’t think the rules applied to her. I had to police the sand pit, the soccer field, the dinosaurs, the mini kitchen and of course the playground and tyres!

Here it is in a nutshell…..

I was obviously the flavour of the day for one little girl as she proceeded to tell me all about herself. Including about her asthma, her beach trips, her vaccinations and more. Then she stared up at me and said “are you a boy or a girl?” I was like um….. what do you think. She says after a fairly long pause… a girl… relief floods over me.. at least she knows her sexes….

Then she moves into serenading me with Frozen two songs, all while I let H off the chair, tell miss A she has to remain on the chair, keep an eye on all areas and pray for time to speed up!

Someone’s throwing sand, the tyre fell on a foot.. someone’s hurt. I go and have a look, but no, it seems the pain has subsided as the dinosaurs flew past and a new game was started. The pain forgotten, the tyre just another toy laying discarded on the lawn.

The sand pit… now this place is a hive of activity! It’s actually a dangerous place for any adult! I had to actually police it.

‘H’ wanted to dig a hole, right next to two others ‘Eiffel tower’, a mound of sand which you had to look at in awe and of course was an exact replica to the towering structure in France and of course the tunnel leading upto it!

‘H’ couldn’t dig anywhere else but right there. I said “H, why not dig somewhere else?, why right there?” He says “how do you know my name?” I said well you were in the naughty chair. I will never forget your name. That quieted him down! He still kept digging though! I did admire his persistence even if he was doing it just to be a pain.

Picture this;

‘Shovels and sand going everywhere, kids running around untamed.

Singing from all sorts of places.

Hands groping my legs and arms, being asked to listen to 10 different conversations all at once.

Having to admire and comment on the potion being mixed with the bucket which once contained the dinosaurs now strewn across the place.

Explain to another that the dinosaur wouldn’t survive being whacked against the pole again.

Calmly state; ‘H’ stop digging in that hole……

Your ankle is fine, no you don’t have sand in your eye

No your leg is not broken

Wow you had a vaccination, boy look at that scar. You’re so brave.

Is grandma okay…..

No 35 is not old’

Meanwhile I am stranded, dinosaurs continue to fly through the air, soccer balls have been found and the Eiffel Tower is slowly being dug out, which of course if causing a melt down in the sand pit!

It was like a comedy show…. it was the longest 35 minutes of my life!

Respect to all those Primary teachers!

I couldn’t do it! I barely survived 35 minutes!