by Alicia Gonzalez

Created on: April 27, 2009

Gavin has his face buried into the carpet and is kicking his feet at a speed I didn't even know existed. Reason for his tantrum? He wanted to hold the magic date wand. He couldn't accept the fact that it wasn't his turn to count the calendar.

Harley won't sit on the carpet unless Peyton sits next to her. Peyton is sitting next to Ben, but Ben can't move because that is his favorite spot. Harley pushes him and he still won't budge. Determined to sit next to Peyton, she plops down on his lap. Ben gets angry and punches her in the back. Now two kids are crying.

Jacob is standing up and stamping his feet. He is angry because he wants to sit in the front. I tell him that there is no more room and he can sit in the middle or back. This isn't good enough. He is stubborn and doesn't like it when he can't get his way. The stamping of his feet begins to get louder and then there are the water works. He cries, "I can't see from there!" Now three kids are crying.

Ava refuses to join the rest of her class on the carpet. She would rather play with the dolls even though she has been told multiple times that play time is over. Without anymore options, I pick her up and head towards the carpet. She puts up a fight. She thrashes her legs and squirms in my arms. Her somewhat quiet grunts turn into pure shrieking. Now four kids are crying.

Bridgette screams, "Giovanni is sitting in water!" I look at little Vanni and the water that Bridgette yelled about is actually pee. He looks at me with sorry eyes and I can see the tears are about to spill. He begins to sob. Now five kids are crying.

The day moves on and everyone recovers. Lunch is served, kids refuse to eat, food is dropped and tables are left messy. Art time turns into one big mess, recess turns into bumps and scrapes and nap time turns into one big joke.

The door closes and no children are left. I clean up the room, prepare lesson plans for the following day, make a few phone calls, run errands and head home.

At last, it is bed time. As I change out of my clothes and into my pajamas, I notice a hand print on my pant leg. A tiny, little pink hand print. I smile as I think about today's art project. Holly had beamed with joy when she dipped her small palm into that pink paint. I don't mind the hand print on my pant leg. I get into bed and think about the kids as I start to drift off.

Today I left with a tiny part of a child on my pant leg. However, everyday I leave with a tiny part of each child in my heart.

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