Don't look at her

Let me tell you what volunteering in Kate's classroom has been like, so far. [So Fun.]

I went in last week to help the new computer lab teacher with the Kindergarteners. I didn't do much prep-work for this event with Kate; the day before, I mentioned it to her. It was going to be 45 minutes or an hour -- a convenient lunch-hour for me -- and I wanted to give her fair warning but didn't think we needed to discuss it at great length. She knows I go over to school once in a while to do little "jobs." But when I told her, I definitely got A Look. It wasn't the teenage eyeroll you're thinking, but it was close. There was a hint of, "Are you kidding me?" (the sarcastic version), and just a touch of "I'm revolted by the thought," too. Clearly the Kindergarten classroom is her very own domain and she does not want Mommy coming in there to mess it all up. (Or, she doesn't want me to see how WELL-BEHAVED she can actually be....)


When I saw her coming into the computer classroom, she nearly stopped right in line to GAPE at me, like, "Really? You actually ARE here?" and she kind-of wrinkled up her nose like something smelled bad. Talk about funny. I made SURE not to talk to her much during the class. Instead I took it as an opportunity to meet some of her friends. (And of course, to observe the wide variety of computer skills that a group of 28 mostly-privileged white kids displays -- it was so interesting. Some can navigate through a SurveyMonkey questionnaire with just a little bit of reading help by the teacher, clicking here and there and having no trouble. Other kids track their mouse all over the table, trying to get the cursor back where it belongs, and unable to find "A" or "Enter" on the keyboard at all. Fascinating.)

Yesterday, I volunteered again, this time in the Library slash Scholastic Book Fair. Helping kids count out their money, now THAT'S fun. ;) Once again, Kate was not very happy to see me (at least on the outside). She did allow herself to whine to me a little bit, when she realized her $12 saved-up-allowance would only buy her 2 books, but at that point my hour was up and I had to leave. I made the mistake of calling her "Kate-Kate" on my way out. Her Kinderg. friends don't know that name -- just her Pre-K friends, who've known her and called her that since before they could all talk (awww). I apologized later for calling her that in front of people. Thankfully, she hadn't noticed or cared.

I'm not hurt by any of her antics, by the way. It's actually the best part of it. I do my best to react the right way, and not annoy her any further, and not incite her! It's so funny. Also of note, Alex used to totally LIGHT UP when I (infrequently) showed up at school. Makes me want to be there even MORE. I have another computer lab date next month, I think, and I signed up to be a "Mystery Reader"  in January. HOW embarrassing, to have your mom READ (think I should do character voices??) to your class. Hahaha. I can't wait.