Kids.

Everyone always assumes that I love kids. Yes, I was an early childhood major. Yes, I teach kindergarten. Yes, I am good with kids. No, I do not love all kids. People think because I spend all day everyday with 17 five year olds, that I have this super high tolerance for kids. This, my friends, is incorrect.

Dad and I went to El Jalisco's tonight for dinner. We were not even two chips into our meal when I heard what sounded like my class of 17 on the other side of the restaurant (it was probably only 5). Over and over and over they were yelling, singing, screaming, and many more synonyms for being plain obnoxious. Even Dad, who is deaf, couldn't stand the obnoxiousness.

This annoys me for many reasons. First, this is a restaurant, not a McDonalds playground. Second, these girls were old enough to know better. Third, their parents were sitting in the next booth over boozing. I am all for parent time, but leave the kids home with a baby sitter. I am also all for taking your kids to dinner, but sit them at a table with you.

Being a kindergarten teacher does give me patience. However, this patience only extends so far. It also only extends for my 17 kids whom I love and adore (and any relatives, family friends, or friends' relatives). Strangers' kids, I do not care for. In K4, when you do something that may break my patience there is a little thing I like to call the "thinking chair." I cannot put your singing at the table child in the thinking chair. I cannot pull your throwing chips across the table child's card. I cannot write up and suspend your running around the table playing musical chairs child.

So, from someone who does have a lot of patience for children, get a hold of your kids. If this is how I feel, just think about how everyone else feels.

Operation Get Tan.

I cannot stand not being tan. When I am tan I feel amazing. I feel prettier, skinnier, and just better. I am not very fair skinned, but I do lose my tan in the winter. While I have been sunburned in the past, I rarely wear sunscreen, because frankly, I do not burn that badly. I tend to tan within 5 minutes of being outside. So, why wasn't that the case yesterday?

I am on spring break from school, so mom and I went to Hilton Head for the week. It was gorgeous out yesterday. About 75 and breezy on the beach. We went out at about 11:30. I sat in my chair playing on my blackberry and listening to my ipod. At about 2, we wandered up to the Dunes House and ate a little lunch. By the time we were back on the beach at 3, it was freezing so we went home.

It wasn't until I took my swimsuit off that I realized Operation Get Tan turned into Operation I Should Have Worn Sunscreen then even later turned into Operation I Am A Lobster.

Now I know how all my pale friends feel. I never understood how someone could get the craziest burn in stripes. Like, the sun is hitting your whole leg? Well, looking at my legs, I now understand shit happens. My thighs and shins are RED, while my knees are still white. Everything hurts. It hurts to wear clothes. It hurts to not wear clothes. It hurts to sit, stand, walk, and lay. It basically hurts to breathe.

I vow from here on out, I will always wear at least SPF 4.

Yes, I had a bathing suit on. You just cannot see it in the picture.

Spring Fling.

This weekend was Spring Fling at PC. I spent the weekend in Clemson, drunk, at a concert, much like I did last year at PC's Spring Fling.

Every year, PC has a band come to play. Last year it was some 80's cover band. This may not sound like a blast, but like every other event ever held at PC, it meant a cash bar. A blast. Here are a few moments to recap Spring Fling last year at PC.

The roommates and I all went to the concert. It was at the stadium. Jcrew made best friends with the bartender for us. We were well on our way to a certain level of party that we hadn't seen in a while. We rocked out to cover tunes and had a photo shoot in the bathroom. We made our way back to the townhouse, where certain roommates went to sleep. That wouldn't hold me and Jcrew down. We went and sat in my brand new 4runner. (dont worry, it was parked) We sat there for at least 30 minutes JAMMING out to Justin Bieber. When that was over, we made our way over to another townhouse, where I was eating raw greenbeans straight from the can. In the meantime, Jcrew's big sister managed to wake our sleeping roommate. Jcrew is coming up this weekend and I think I see some major Justin Bieber in our future.

Us at Spring Fling

Kids Say The Darndest Things..

Over the past few weeks I have been completely stressed out at school and at home. It is written all over my face, too. I have never broken out this much in my life. Thank goodness for mom and Jcrew for getting me through the past few weeks. Another thing that does help, is the large amount of ridiculous things my kids say. Here are a few.

1. This was is actually funny and heartbreaking once you think about it. Today, I was taking my kids to the bathroom before we went to the classroom (I pick them up in the cafeteria). My principal was standing in the hallway, where she is normally looming. I have a dear dear child, Bre'Niya, who is wild beyond belief. Over the past couple of weeks, she has spent a bit of time in the principal's office. Sister says to me as Bre'Niya runs up and down the hallway, "Miss Laskowski, you know that she told me she's changing her name." I laughed, only half paying attention, trying to figure out how to chill Bre'Niya out, "To what?" To this Sister responded, "To Bre'Niya Laskowski." I laughed it off, but no, I will not be adopting good old Bre'Niya.

2. Also from Bre'Niya.. "Miss Laskowski, I called my mom Brittany the other day. Oooo she got so mad. She said she won't be my mother anymore if I call her Brittany. I guess I better call her mom.

3. After taking about 10 minutes to get my kids to chill out, sit down, and eat lunch, I started to pass out their food (we eat in the classroom, yes, I hate it). I was probably at the point where I had passed all the food out and had moved on to ketchup. I was not smiling and probably breathing deep. Tyshawn whispers to the person next to him, "whoa, she must be mad. I wonder what they did?" Umm.. THEY?! They?! Really? Not you? Okay.

4. Another teacher at the school was in my room. She is black. One girl said "Hey! You guys are twins." Clearly, we both laughed and said "no." She responded, "YES! You both got your hair down." Well, if that makes us twins, I guess I am related to everyone in the world. This was followed up the next day with, "You and Miss Kisha aren't twins anymore because she has her hair up and yours is different." Whew, good. I can't handle another sibling.