Find a teacher of small children and thank them.

Yesterday's activity with the Kindergarteners was intense. A modified version of a catalase activity experiment (http://tr.im/catalase) that involves lots of decomposing hydrogen peroxide with concomittant and copious production of bubbly soft soapy water. Because of my schedule, we did the activity at the end of the day.

The end of the day is a special time for schoolchildren. It occurs twice. Once at the end of school and once before bedtime. In both instances, they are most likely to be strangled by the adult in charge. At the end of the activity, which they enjoyed, they were getting ready to leave the building for the bus. Many of the children were brandishing their umbrellas, jumping up and down and screaming. Frankie's teacher took this in stride and was still able to line them up in orderly fashion as calmly as if he were peacefully listening to music sipping wine.

I was sweating, about to explode and smelled bad.

Frankie and I proceeded to Chuckie Cheese afterward and I actually fell asleep sitting at our table. The staff was looking at me funny and Frankie was bounding up to my table dumping tickets. She had accumulated several hundred tickets (she usually earns about 20 under my watchful eye) and was ready to cash out.

It was some day.

Unless you've been there, you can't possibly imagine what it takes to teach these little ones at this most formative stage in their development. Cheers to you Frankie's teacher. Have a restful weekend - you deserve it.