Last Friday

I don't know if I just had exceedingly low expectations, if I somehow morphed into a "glass half full" type of person, or people just took pity on the short woman with the belly the size of a double-wide trailer, but everything I did over the weekend went better than expected.

On Friday, I aided at Ree's preschool.  When I signed up for this back in September, I had no idea it was the last day of preschool before Christmas and the big holiday party.  When I found out, I had visions of kids bouncing off the walls.  What's worse, when I got to school, I found out the party was an hour later than was originally planned, which meant the kids were going to have nearly a full day of school (9:00 - 12:30) before the party.  Yikes.  I was just hoping to survive.

But it turns out, the kids were great. They did have a lot of energy, but the teachers were still able to redirect them when they (quickly) grew bored of each activity.

But even more worrisome to my lazy, pregnant self was what would happen after the party.  The school is called Parents Community Preschool, and the title actually is self-explanatory.  It is a Montessori-style school based on around the theory that parents, as a community, run the school.  This creates a great environment, and it keeps tuition costs really low.  This also means the only employees are the two teachers, so when parents aide, which every family does at least six times per year, there is quite a bit to do.  The aide sets up in the classroom in the morning, serves as principal and secretary throughout the day, plans and leads one of the activities for centers, and serves as the cook and custodian.  For me, working with kids is great.  It's the custodial duties that are killer.  It's nothing insanely strenuous.  It's wiping down tables, chairs, and cabinets; sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming floors; cleaning the bathroom; taking out trash, recycling, and compost; and picking up the school and playground.  It's just time consuming, and a lot to do after spending four hours with the kiddos.  And when I heard the party had been pushed back an hour, I feared I would never leave.

The parents take the community thing seriously, and after a regular day of school, there are typically kids playing on the playground while their moms chat for a good hour after the school day ends.  And in playing that long someone always has a potty emergency (and those someones also always seem to have the dirtiest shoes) and they need to come back in to school, usually right after I finish cleaning the floors and bathroom.  I figured the whole party atmosphere, not to mention a day with a high in the 50s after having highs in the 30s all week, would lead to even more lingering than usual.

And it may have happened, but I never knew.  A whole team of moms assembled and began helping me clean.  We were still there until 2:45, but the school was REALLY clean.  Definitely the cleanest it had ever been on my watch.  And I got to move at a merciful snail's pace the entire time.  That experience was definitely better than expected.  And that was just the beginning of the weekend.

Yes, the rambling is to be continued...