Jumping Jacks are the Hardest Thing

We've been back at school for almost 2 weeks and summer already seems like a distant memory. Josie just started 2nd grade & I began my 23rd year of teaching and we're both loving it! We aren't thrilled about the early start to our routine or the August Heat but things are going well, especially since our classrooms have working AC at the moment! (Back to School Night was conducted in sweltering classrooms with NO AC that registered 98 degrees indoors--not very aromatic introduction for new parents.)

Josie's now seven (in legal terms, I've heard this referred to as the Age of Reason) but her logic & observations continue to delight me. Although, there are those brief moments when I wish for quiet and solitude instead of listening to her constant chatter. I quickly remind myself that it won't be long before she'll hit those pre-teen sullen/silent years so I put my Listening Ears back on so I don't miss out on Josie's Wisdom.

During the final weeks of summer we were busy with Play Dates & Water Park Visits & trips to the coast to escape Fresno's Summer Heat. She also spent a lot of time with her friend, David, swimming in his pool, hanging out with him at her Dad's house, & enjoying Game Night with his family. I tried several times to invite him to our house for a Play Date but each time I suggested it, Josie vetoed the idea. After several suggestions, I started wondering if she didn't want David to see our "old" house so I asked her directly, "Why is it that you don't want David to come to our house?" Her response was honest: "Mom, I have a lot of Girl Things at our house. I don't want David to know I have so many Girl Things so it's easier to play with him at Daddy's." I suggested that we could pack up the Girl Things and give them away or hide them in my bedroom. She pondered that for a moment and said, "Yes, that might work but we can't give away my Polly Pockets yet." (Darn it!)

Speaking of "Darn It", Josie has an ongoing fear of Flushing Toilets. She cringes at the sound at home every time a toilet is flushed. But, she's downright fearful of those Sensor Toilets in Public Restrooms because she has figured out that those are extremely LOUD & they often flush while she's still sitting on the toilet. I think she suffers PTSD due to Sensor Toilets. Needless to say, at home she rarely flushes the toilet and her bathroom visits are followed by these questions, "Did you wash your hands & flush the toilet?" These questions always result in an About Face Run to the bathroom to remedy whichever task she forgot. A few weeks ago, on one of those dreadfully hot Fresno days, I was putting laundry away and heard Bentley lapping up water out of the toilet. My mind flashed & I ran to the bathroom to find Bentley drinking out of an unflushed toilet and was completely grossed out. I yelled, "DARN IT! Josie---you have GOT to start flushing the toilet without any reminders!" Sensitive Josie sulked into the bathroom with tears in her eyes & whimpered, "Mom, I can't believe you just 'Darnded' at me. That hurts my feelings." After a calm discussion & a demonstration of what Poor (Disgusting) Bentley had just lapped out of the toilet, I think she remembered to Flush for at least 24 hours.

Now that I'm teaching the same grade that Josie attends, I get to see her quite a bit throughout the day. I love this & so far, she seems to think it's pretty neat that she can call me "Mom" while everyone else calls me "Ms. Severt" (although, I hear "Josie's Mom" just as often as I hear "Ms. Severt). I'm definitely NOT a model of Physical Education and it's laughable to think I'd know the first thing about teaching PE but in California, elementary teachers are the sole instructors of Art, Music & PE. (Scary to think I have to instruct/model any of these 3 subjects, huh?) Our Second Grade Team of Teachers has a system for PE. We begin the year teaching all of our 120 2nd graders to line up like the Football Team and we do exercise & warm up drills, counting off like drill sergeants. We follow that by a lap or two around the track, walking in the heat & jogging if the weather is tolerable. Once our kiddos have the Warm Up Routine under their belts, we'll begin teaching skills of popular recess games: soccer, basketball, hoola hoops & hopscotch. This is a much different routine than Josie's PE experience in first grade where they played things like Roller Ball or Jump Rope or parachute. After the first week of PE (Ed Code requires 100 minutes of PE per week), I asked Josie what she thought of 2nd Grade PE. She sighed heavily, "I'm not liking it so much. When do we get to do the fun things like throw balls at each other?" I promised her that we'd start the Fun Stuff soon but tried to focus on the positive aspects of Exercising. "Which Warm Up Exercise do you like best, Josie?" "I don't know, but I can tell you which one I DON'T like the most: Jumping Jacks! My arms are close to my brain so they seem to understand what to do but my legs are so far away from my brain that they don't do the right thing. Jumping Jacks are the hardest thing about 2nd grade, Mom."