It's a Low Rider

So the Boy has this fantastic ability to imitate a Hispanic accent... and more than that, he's hilarious when using it, so we've had fun with that. While looking for a car for me, we often laughed at his stereotypical comments about wanting a "low rider" with "the rims" and "LED lights" that cause it to glow.
So, what does that have to do with anything? Well, today while in kindergarten (yes, everything I write about is about school), I had the children drawing in their journals about what they would like to bring to "Show and Tell" if given the chance. I then helped them write about it. Well, one Hispanic little boy told me he was drawing his trailer truck. I helped him write that, and then afterwards he told his friend, "It's a low rider."

Large Families

The children in my class all come from very large families. That's pretty much what I concluded after today's workshop activity. The children were each asked to use their thumbprints to make thumbprint people. Each thumbprint would make the head of a person, and the children had to draw the rest of the body. I asked the children to make a "Thumbprint Family," meaning that they had to draw their family, using the thumbprint people. Kindergartners love this activity! However, I seem to think that many of them may have been exaggerating the size of their families. I did mention that they could include pets, but some of the children must have been counting every ant that had ever walked across their sidewalk. In fact, some children had such large families, they had to go so far as to not only dip their thumb in the ink... but most of their hand. Needless to say, some did not get around to drawing a body for every family member... so tragic. :)

Missionaries from Taiwan

Yesterday, some of the missionaries from my mission had a little get together. It was so much fun to see everybody and to share mission experiences. I love Taiwan. I love the people of Taiwan. Even the crazy ones (and missionaries attract those like flies). I miss Taiwan... and I feel guilty about all of the people I have not written lately... guess I should get on that...

Erin's Coming Home

So, my sister Erin went in for back surgery this past Monday. She has severe scoliosis. The doctor said her back is off by about 104 degrees. So, they have put several rods in her back and a bunch of pins, and now she is standing taller than ever!
Erin is coming home today and hopefully will be feeling better as soon as possible. She's such an optimist. Every time a nurse asks her her pain level, she tells her it's a 10. That's even right after receiving morphine. Always a constant 10.

Welcome home Erin!!

My Song and Dance Routine

Good news! My back is feeling much much better! It's been a week now since it happened and I have earned the nickname of "gimp." But today, I think I'm actually starting to walk normal!

So, have I mentioned how much I love five year olds? Today, I had one little boy howling in the corner of my classroom for 40 minutes straight, telling me he wanted to go home to his mom. (that part I do NOT love) When he finally calmed down (thank goodness he did!!) he asked me for a pillow and a blankie and asked if he could take his shoes off. After taking a little rest on the floor, he was able to join the rest of the class, and we went on with the day like normal. Not a single child in the classroom made fun of him for it... I guess they are all so close to needing a blankie themselves that they don't see any reason to bring it up.

As a kindergarten teacher, I don't think I realize sometimes exactly how much of a song and dance routine I really do, until today I was calling children to stand up and walk to their seats, and a little boy raises his hand and asks, "But Miss Parrish, aren't you going to sing our names today?" Kindergartners! So, of course, I sang their names for them.

A Pain in the Back

So, Thursday I went to school with a little bit of a twinge in my back. I figured that I must have slept on it wrong, and didn't think too much of it. I went on with my life, including teaching very short people that we call kindergartners. By lunchtime, however, my back was killing me, and I tried to take a bit of a break during lunch to do some back exercises. However, that didn't work out since several parents decided to bring their children into school before the bell rang, and by the time I explained that they were early and why they had to go outside, my lunch break was over. By the end of the day, I could hardly move.
Friday, I went to school, but this time I called in a substitute to do all of my bending and stretching, and lifting and such. I was mostly a reassuring smile in the back corner that all was well. Many teachers told me I was an idiot... glad I have their support. And Friday afternoon, I went to the doctor.

I don't like doctors. They seem nice enough, but they always do things to you that are not nice. When they suggested giving me a shot, I told them "no, thanks." However, apparently my age (being 24 at the moment) does not actually give me authority over my own body. Instead, my Aunt Allison told me I was getting the shot and not to look since they were coming in with it right then. I got a nasty shot, as well as some intensive medication. All three bottles they gave me have nice little warnings on the side that read, "May cause drowsiness." To my body that is translated to, "May cause you to be knocked out like a light for the next 48 hours." So, in the last 48 hours, I have slept for 30 of those. That's a lot of sleeping!

Thanks to a wonderful cousin, Juliana that helped me type my lesson plans, and a fantastic family (including my cousin, McCall and my Aunt Allison...despite the fact that she was an advocate of the shot!) I'm doing much better and hope to be able to teach school in the morning. I'm just hoping that this medication doesn't knock me out like a light!

Did I ever tell you how much I love five year olds?

Today was the first day of kindergarten. Well, I should really say kindergarten orientation. Some things went really well! One of those had to do with an adorable girl named Calley. She came up to me after school and held her arms out as wide as she possibly could and told me, "I love you thissss much." To which I replied by holding out my much longer arms and told her, "Well, I love you thisss much!" She is a doll! I have some really cute kindergartners and I think this year will go well!