New Preschool Teacher in Town: Me!

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, they said.
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I don't like children. I don't like teaching. And I don't like pink.
Here I am teaching preschoolers in my pink uniform 5 days a week, and here is how that life begins. :)

My first month was all like, dear God save me...these weird little ducklings are chaos!

They could cry so hard they puked or peed or both. You may sing and dance all you want they will just stare blankly at you (and that was the most crickety 20 minutes of my life, btw). However, after that, they could came out of nowhere running to you to give you boogie or try to lick your toe or pull your arm off -but sometimes got distracted by the urge to smell your armpit. They like to climb up your back, then your legs and before you know it, they were all over you. I think they were trying to kill me by burying me alive with their little bodies.

I learned that sometimes I can make them go away with a quick hug, a little lift up and down, high-five or ten, some tickling, or compliment. Even though there are times when none of them works. I mean, like, who would know "Wiwing" means "Piring" (plate) and "Badu" means "Sepatu" (shoes)? There is this kid kept saying "Wiwing" and I said "Good job" and he didn't go away until he got his plate, haha. Oh, I also learned that now my name could be Ms. Pyona or Syonah at its best. It's hard for them to sound "Fiona".

With this second month still on going, I realized one thing..that I have a laugh issue.
I am so easy to laugh, especially at their mistakes or misery. There is this kid playing with his plastic bag by repeatedly slipping his right hand in and out of it during snack time. Then one of the teachers, saw the kid's been tricky all day, caught him and asked him to finish his meal with his hand in a plastic bag. I needed to run to a toilet just so no one can see me laughing. I came back to the class only to see the teacher had put a rubber band around the kid's hand with the plastic bag, and the kid just had to continue eating that way, and he did.. I just had to run to the toilet again. I swear it's funnier seen than told.

September is the month for Fruit, Vegetables, Meat, and Fish as topics. On each week we brought in some samples for the kids to try, like banana, papaya, fruit soup, salad with mayo, "otak-otak" (made of fish) and sausages. There is kid who doesn't like fruits, veggies, or sausages. Every single time he saw a teacher brought in a bowl or two to taste, he would immediately raise his hand saying, "I wanna pee..." with sweats and tears all over his face. That wide eyes and rapid nodding movement obviously saying, "LET ME GO! PLEASEE!! NOW!!!" histerically. Well..This month is surely traumatic to him.

It's funny how these kids always ask for me when they need help on something that scares them instead of other senior teachers. I guess they know I'm not as strict as them. I smiles a lot, compliment small details, and not forcing their limits in the first try. Easy target, am I not? haha.

As much as I think I will enjoy this eventually, I don't think I will stay more than a year. Let this be the only group of preschoolers that I might grow affection for.