See it?

I have a lot of kindergartners.

Another one is starting on Monday, meaning I have 10 of them in total. That's right. Ten five year olds.

Eight of them are boys, with all the boy energy I've talked about before.
The boy energy is the bouncing off the walls/trying to establish physical dominance type.

So far, they've attempted arm wrestling, trying to push each other to the floor while standing in line, grabbing toys from each other in the middle of play, chasing each other (a thing I put a stop to immediately indoors and mostly ignore outdoors) using the fidgets from the big box of them as weapons and splashing water/soap when it's time to wash their hands. They're physical and impulsive, which is to be expected with a bunch of little guys.

It's not difficult to deal with, although it's a little hard to keep a straight face because they're so cute and funny and full of exuberance.

Funny. If someone had told me when I started this job back in 2004 that not only would I have 10 five year olds to deal with every afternoon, but I'd also be doing the paperwork and following all kinds of state licensing rules and making sure all the food and toys and projects are in order, that we'd add 10 other kids to the mix and that they'd all need stuff to do too, and craft projects and art and games would happen and all would be running smoothly and with at least the appearance of being effortless (I love being good at what I do...) I would never have believed it.

Two of the K age kids are girls. Both of them are (of course) adorable and funny and fun to have around.

One of the girls is the oldest of three kids.
She has so many interesting things to say.

Cammie likes drawing, listening to stories and telling other people what to do. She has a strong personality. Highly intelligent. That sometimes causes her to be a little impatient with the other kids, not all of them understand her.

Those qualities, sometimes referred to as being bossy by adults who really should know better, are things that will be advantageous for her as she grows up.

All of the children are discovering what we have to offer. We have a lot of games, toys, Lincoln logs, art supplies, LEGO, blocks, a big bin of fidgets, a book cart that isn't as well stocked as I'd like, but I'm working on it.

Cammie found the Pictionary game on Tuesday. I bought it at Goodwill over the summer, it was still factory-sealed, so I did not take the lid off and examine the contents. All the kids were excited. A brand new game!

When that game first came out, the drawings were done on paper. Now the game contains dry erase markers and small white boards. This does not contribute to legible drawings, I'm afraid.

So Cammie and Tommy and Jonah were playing the game with my assistant.
Cammie drew something, and everyone at the table with her was trying to figure out what she'd drawn. They guessed bugs and cars and flying saucers. She became more exasperated with each guess.

After everyone at the table had tried to guess, even those who weren't part of the game, she got up and came across the room to me. Held out her little white board and said, "I know you will be able to figure this out!"

It was just some scribbles as far as I could see, but I did try.

I pointed to part of it and said, "Is that a man?" She gave me an intense look. Not a patient one, I'm afraid. So I asked if another part of the picture was  a dog.

She made a barky, impatient noise at me and said, "Any fool can see that it's people swimming!"

"Cammie," I said mildly, "That's not a very nice way to talk to me."

She immediately clouded up, I thought she was going to cry.
I was quick to add, "It's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean to be crabby. I know it's frustrating when people don't see things the same way you do. Can you tell me about your drawing?"

That calmed her down a bit, and she explained the scrawls and splotches to me. I have to admit I still couldn't see it, I mean she's five and it's a little white board and it's true, we don't see things the same way. But I told her, "Oh, I see how this is water here!" That was the only thing I could possibly interpret.

But seriously. 'Any fool could see' ??

Her mom and dad are very nice people, and I'm sure they aren't mean like that. My guess? Disney channel. She was talking about some of the shows she watches, and I know they're on Disney.

I haven't had that channel in my home for a long time. We had it for about a week when the kids were younger and I thought it might be fun, but the shows and the commercials were full of references to how stupid/gullible/easy to confuse the adults are. Shows where kids are putting one over on the adult(s) in their lives and commercials about how stupid adults are were enough to convince me it had no place in my home.

Ha... any fool could see it was obnoxious and rude and mean-spirited.
My feelings haven't changed.

not the actual drawing...