Yesterday. Last night. Today. I don't even know where to begin.
Well, ok, in three nutshells: Last night was a blast. YesterDAY was fun for the kids. Today was a scene out of a gross out flick (vomit galore).
Although I keep hoping its not always true, class trips are NEVER fun for the teacher. Yesterday, four classes in our unit at school were chosen to attend Operation Santa Claus, a huge annual event organized by some non-profit and held at Hangar 19 at JFK Airport. The supposed highlight of the event is when Santa enters the hangar in a Delta shuttle. When I heard this, I just had see if it was really true. And I paid the price. Yeah, it was fun, there were tons of gifts for each kid (including a Kermit the frog puppet with a CAMERA! I swear, only in America.) An hour in, the kids are FREEZING coz obviously, there's no heat. A.B. starts getting antsy and throws himself on the floor and this kid is HEAVY. Meanwhile, I'm holding on to J.S. with my other hand while simultaneously trying to get A.B. to stand up. Ugh. Later once they're finally back in their seats, I walk over to the sweet kids of my class coz A.B. was giving me a migraine. I see another of my students crying because she is sick, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. I feel bad for her, so I have her sit on my lap, and I end up carrying her for the rest of the event. I almost missed the spectacle of Santa entering the hangar, then I decided to just stand up, still carrying her (thank goodness she's a light weight for her age). Though we were there only 2 hours, it felt like an eternity and I was gladd when it was finally time to go back to school.
TODAY, I felt the pain in my arms from carrying A.W. I'm feeling so weak, I just want to go back to sleep, especially since B and I didn't get home til nearly midnight from celebrating the opening of Arkipelago's exhibit at Longwood Gallery. I get to school, that same kid who slept in my arms and went home early was absent. I hear a buzz that kids are throwing up in other classrooms. The kids in my class are totally off the wall, defiant, coughing, sneezing, etc. Definitely signs of sickness coming along. 11:30am comes and A.D. throws up last nights dinner. Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, I so clearly saw and smelled. 12:30 comes, he throws up again. This time, just liquid. Equally gross. Mom is called, the nurse had to convince her to come pick him up. 1:40 comes (this is my "lunch break" by the way. I'm a glutton for punishment, coz I'm in the classroom with the kids) and A.D. throws up AGAIN. Mom finally come at 2:15 to pick him up. Fast forward to the lunch room. Cafeteria full of kids waiting for their bus. A kid from another class is having a bad day, and starts hitting me. I try to restrain him and he turns his head and spits. SPITS. He spits and aims for my face, particularly my eyes. Thank goodness I was wearing my glasses. They saved me. Like I needed more germs. Like the vomit wasn't enough. Strangely, I still love my job and am fighting to make it to tomorrow coz its Class Picture Day! Honestly though, I'm half hoping for a blizzard so there's no school, my sick kids can rest an extra day and Picture Day is postponed until the vomit trend ends.
I'm feeling a bit nauseous right now. Last night chika to be continued later. Gotta get to Christmas show practice.
