Here's the deal. I had SO MUCH to do today and no assistant, so I decided to give the kids a break and let them do an activity instead of Montessori work, leaving me free to roam in and out of the room, conferring with people, in and out of the closet, getting organized. Wrong move. And I know it every time. Kids don't do well when you take the routine away. (Hitting myself over the head) I really had no choice, though. I had to get the work done. Anyway, they were HORRIBLE, well, horrible to me. They were loud and wouldn't listen. I don't yell, but we had to stop class so many times to "practice" that I lost count. Silence in the kitchen, silence in the classroom several times. Had to seperate two boys at playtime because they would not sit on the circle in the gym while I swept and mopped the kitchen. Two crying tantrums when two kids didn't get their way. I just let them cry. At the end of the day, I had no emotion. I made the parents picking up their children go back outside in the hallway to wait. I was not letting anyone leave the room until they heard my lecture and what the consequences of today were going to be. Sooooo... drumroll please.... they are not doing any projects on Friday, period. Friday is project day because we have ballet, piano, spelling tests, and show and tell, so everything is off kilter anyway. "Projects" are a big deal to these kids. You can call anything a "project", and they will do it willingly. You could have heard a pin drop if there hadn't been carpet. A couple of them said, "No projects?" and looked at me with disbelief. Ordinarily, I would say that the consequence is too far away from today to matter, but I have a feeling that they will remember how they treated me today. If not, believe me, I will be glad to remind them.
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