Every morning I change the home reading books for Hannah's Grade 2 class. These are the books that the children take home each night. They read them with their parents and then bring them back the next day to be changed for a nice new one.
For some reason this 'job', I won't call it a duty, as I do enjoy doing it, always seems to fall on me. I don't know why that is exactly... anyway. I have been doing it since Bethany was in Prep which was five years ago now. Sometimes for both of the girls, now just for Hannah. Next year for Hannah and Angus. So I can't see it ending for at least another 6 years! Yikes!
This year this 'job' has got even more
They fight over toys, balls, crayons, chairs, mummy's attention. Angus picks up a toy that Josh wants and Josh lets the whole building know about it! He throws himself on the floor, flat on his back and cries. I stop, pick him up, take him outside, happy him up a little bit, and take him back inside for the next round. I am lucky if I get to change one kid's book, before he starts again.
Today I used a different tactic. I sat him up on the desk next to me. Held on to him securely with one hand and opened folders and wrote numbers down with the other hand. That works for oh maybe five whole folders. When the novelty of sitting on the desk wore off, I sat him at my feet with books. While keeping up a steady chatter of "Oh what can you see there Josh?" "Is that a teddy?" "Oh that cake looks yummy", I could write furiously, and kept plying him with different books, until I had finished them all.
It really is all good fun! All these other mum's that don't volunteer, really don't know what they are missing out on.
Melanie