One of the great pleasures that I take away from my job has to be the many hilarious stories that happen within my week. Not only do I get to enjoy the funny moments here at home, but my weeks are typically highlighted by a story or two from my classroom. I will keep this as an ongoing series, so that you can enjoy the funny and strange stories of my life. Get out the popcorn and a nice beverage of choice and enjoy.

So, the great Bill Cosby was right in saying that kids say (and do) the darndest things. This very thought is what makes my job so great. Here is one recent happening. I have one student who is new to my classroom. During the first few months in my room I have noticed his fascination with water. This has happened a couple years before with another student, but he (we’ll call him K) has taken this fetish to new heights. Day after day, I find myself chasing and shooing him away from the sinks in my room only to see him turning them on seconds later. Bear in mind that I have four sinks in my room, and he manages to turn between one and three on in a matter of seconds. What to do, what to do. Then, by complete accident, I stumbled upon a solution. I had a lesson on rain a couple weeks ago. I focus on easy things to learn since I’m dealing with 3, 4, and 5 year olds. So, one day I bring out a rain stick to show the kids. I walk around with the stick as they play in different parts of the room. As a get closer to K I turn the stick over and back to make the rain sound. Surely he would love this because he loves water. WRONG! A face of great panic appears and he darts to the other side of the room. Well, as Lisa can testify to, I like to antagonize others sometimes. For my work I consider it research. So I continue to follow K around the room swishing the stick back and forth. He continues to run in sheer terror. (I know, I’m horrible, but it works). Then it hits me. I have the very thing that will keep him from the water. So I have been using this water fetish deterrent with resounding success. I have even been able to get him to run away from the sink when he hears “Let me go get the rain stick.” He runs to the other side of the room every time. Never in my life did I imagine teaching a child to stop playing with water by using a rain stick, but sometimes ‘You gotta do whatcha gotta do!’