Small Great Things: Sticker stampede

My view from the Head Teacher's office.
When the children were on break, I learned very
quickly that it was best if I stayed in the office so
that I wouldn't cause a mob scene.

Today I cause a sticker frenzy! Knowing that American children love stickers, I packed a ton of stickers to give out to the kids here. Little did I know, however, that stickers being passed out by the white lady (oberoni) would cause such a ruckus. When I was in the classrooms yesterday, I would put a sticker in their writing books when they finished their work and the teacher had checked it. Today, I asked the teachers if it would be ok if I also gave each child a sticker for their shirt. So, as they finished their work, I gave each child a sticker in their book as well as a sticker for their shirt. Well, it was if I was passing out gold coins or diamonds--they were beyond excited. So, at one of the breaks, I started passing out stickers to the children who were coming up to me. Word got around quickly, and soon I was literally in a sea of children all pushing and shoving to get a sticker. Bad call on my part. The head teacher had to come out and rescue me! So, I'm going to stick (pun not intended) to putting the stickers in their books. 😀

More kids gathering to see me an pose for my camera!

They were all very excited to pose for a picture.

Apart from the stickers, I taught some more songs and gave a lot more high fives and blew a lot more kisses. Every few kids or so, I'll pretend that the child who just gave me a high five was very strong and hurt my hand. I'll "shake out" my hand and say "ouch!" They think it's very funny. Pretty much everything I do is hilarious to them--I'm like a performing circus monkey! Lol! That's how I feel, but I love it so much!! I love making them laugh; I love giving them high fives; I love it that when they should be paying attention to their teacher, they are blowing me kisses or giving me "thumbs up" or waving to me instead; I love that their smiles fill my heart with such joy and love. I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow 😀.

Morning gathering in the yard.

After school today, I helped out at the library. It was much calmer, and I was able to sit and work with children one-on-one without the distractions I mentioned above. There were children from other schools, so I was still the main attraction, but these students were older and maintained their excitement much better than the little ones. (Side note: at the end of the day today, the nursery aged children--3 years--were sneaking out of their classrooms to see me as I was sitting in the office. They were "sneaking" down the breezeway to look at me and when I turned to say hello, they ran away screaming! Lol! It was almost like they were daring each other to "go look at the oberoni!," haha!). I helped with some math homework and some reading. At the end of library time, two girls (ages 12 & 13) stayed to talk to me. They were very interested in me and my family, so I showed them pictures. I also was able to (finally) whip out my new instant camera to take some pictures. I am afraid I will cause a Hunger Games-type bloodbath if I take it out at the school! Lol! The older kids loved it and were so thankful and sweet about it. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. One of the features of the camera is a photo booth mode, where it takes four pictures in succession and all four print out on the same paper. It was a lot of fun!

Back home, I had dinner while three of the grandchildren sat with me and taught me more Fante. I'm staring to feel a little more at ease, especially with the grandkids. The older girls are 17 & 25, so it's nice to talk with them and ask them questions that I don't feel comfortable asking the other adults 😜. My beach buddy, Calvin (10) also sat with us. He's the cutest and I love seeing his sweet face everyday. The older grandson is 25, too, so same deal with him. He and the oldest granddaughter are responsible for most of the household. They take amazing care of their grandmother and the house. I really adore them all.