dare

i can't believe that we only have a week til christmas eve. december is going out of control fast. (isn't it?) anyways, last week, doodle (our classroom elf on the shelf) made his appearances and my kindergartner's reactions did not disappoint. we are in the last week before christmas break now, and i feel like i am no longer a teacher, but now the producer of the show "kindergartners gone wild: week before christmas edition." they are crazy bonkers and reigning their energy has been quite exhausting. this elf on the shelf business isn't helping matters, but there is no turning back now. (it kinda backfired.) anyways, this is how it went last week:

monday

monday we had a 2 hour delay due to bad weather. let me tell you that five year olds are driven by routine. when there is a disruption in that routine due to something like a 2 hour delay...they tend to lose their minds. moreover, when they came in and saw doodle sitting on top of the tv with a video...they gasped and one kid almost crapped his pants. (oh, and yes...i still use VHS.) one of them exclaimed, "maybe he is FRIENDS with FROSTY!???" i told them i thought he might be. later in the afternoon, i asked them if they thought maybe doodle wanted us to watch the movie? (it was all his idea, not mine...i swear.) they all clapped and were pumped to watch "doodle's movie pick" for the day. one little girl told me she was "so glad" he didn't lose his powers over the weekend..and that she was really worried about that happening. here i was worried about making a mortgage payment and she's worried about a stuffed elf losing his magic...sometimes i wish i was a kid again.

tuesday we had a snow day due to more inclement weather. if you think i don't get ridiculously excited about snow days, i assure you that is not the case. it's just as exciting for the teachers as it is for the kids. however, i know it's probably a huge pain in the ass for working parents...cause now they have to find somewhere for their kids to go. even though i love my job, it's a day off...of work. i spent most of that day playing with my own kids and getting my house in order, but baked some brownies and had some bloody mary's in the afternoon during nap time. (don't judge me.) i don't know what doodle was doing in the classroom, but i'm hoping he was chillin with frosty and friends on his well deserved day off.

wednesday

wednesday when they came in the classroom, the search for their friend was back on. they found him at the the back of the room at the art table coloring a picture...of himself. they were critiquing his coloring skills and all agreed that he did a fine job staying inside of the lines. (haha!) sure enough, during playtime...most wanted to sit with doodle and color. even my most sloppy artists were very careful to color inside the lines while in eyeshot of him. (because he's going to report back to santa!) apparently i should have been dressed up as a elf all year to get these kids to be more neat. during this time, they were talking to the stuffed elf and actually asking him if they could borrow his crayons. "doodle? can i please borrow a red?...oh thank you." and then they would take the crayon as needed. (so stinkin cute.) i was proud that they were at least being polite to our classroom visitor...even if he couldn't really hear them.

thursday

a parent had donated a box of scrabble cheese-its to our classroom for snack. my students have been having fun at snacktime making different words with them before they eat them. this gave me the idea to have doodle get in on the action. i sifted through the box to find the letters of his name and voila, we have a name spelling elf. when they came in to the classroom that morning, they were just as excited as they were the first day they found him. cheers, claps, and high fives for doodle. one kid said, "he's so smart! he knows how to spell his name!" by the end of the day, i noticed that the 'D' was missing from the plate and it now spelled, "oodle." i gasped and said, "OH NO! SOMEONE ATE ONE OF DOODLE'S LETTERS! he's going to tell santa, too!" most of them looked scared (good), but one of my mischievous children was looking awful suspicious. i eyeballed him a little longer than the others and he admitted, "okay, it was me...i was kinda hungry." (i almost lost it laughing.) we had a conversation about taking things that aren't ours and if what he did was a good choice or bad choice. i let him know that doodle and i were not pleased. he then apologized to me...and the elf.

friday

i'm glad i saved this one for a friday, because it caused pandemonium. (i knew it would.) i couldn't help but think of miley cyrus and her wrecking ball video as i balanced on my desk and perched him atop the apple. as stated before, the teacher edition of elf on the shelf should come equipped with a ritalin salt lick for the door...on this day, it was really needed. they flew in like santa clause himself was somewhere in the room and searched everywhere. when one of the kids spotted him, all hell broke loose. "LOOK! HE'S UP THERE! LOOKK!" (oh boy.) then one of them yelled (at me), "YOU put him up there! how else could he get up there himself!?" up until this point this week, there was no mention of me having anything to do with his position for the day. before i could reply, another child piped in and said, "she's way too short to reach up there! she didn't do it." (this is true.) they all nodded. i told them that because he was up so high, he had an excellent view of everyone for the day. this calmed them down a bit and they got themselves together. (for the most part.) when the last bell rang on friday, i ran out of the building like my hair was on fire. (doodle who?) however, i arrived back this monday morning refreshed and ready to go.

so here we are this week at the last five days of doodle's adventures and i let the kids know today that he would be leaving us this friday to head back to live at the north pole. they were ridiculously sad at this news and i kinda felt bad. (sorry for the doodle disappointment.) i mean, some shed tears. anyway, i'll be sure to share the last of his shenanigans as this final week comes to a close. christmas is just around the corner and full chaos and commotion has come into the classroom. if you think your own kids are excited and acting nuts at home, just imagine that on a much greater scale at school. (pack mentality.) if you still aren't feeling in the spirit this close to christmas, you are more than welcome to come join us in the classroom for an hour or two. my bet is that most of you would go running back to your regular jobs in no time, without ever mentioning again about a teacher's need for snow days or summer vacation. in fact, i dare you...and so does doodle.