Me and Bug

Today I went in to volunteer in Bug's class, as I do every Thursday. I really enjoy it and it gives my ego a big boost when all the kids run up to me and give me hugs as soon as they see me. The classroom teacher was out today so there was a sub. Now, I'm the first person to acknowledge that substitute teaching can be hard. Really hard. I've been subbing part time for a few years, since I left my regular teaching job, and I've had my share of classes from Hell. However, the scene that greeted me when I walked into my son's room today was like something out of Animal House. There were kids on desks, kids under desks, and quite frankly I'm surprised there weren't kids trying to cram themselves in desks. Another half dozen kids were chasing each other around the room. I looked around for the teacher, but she was nowhere to be found. For a fleeting moment, I wondered if the kids had her hog-tied in the bathroom. Finally I asked my son where she was and he pointed to a out of the way spot behind a bookcase. There she sat, chatting with another student, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around her. Thankfully, Bug was one of the few students actually sitting at his desk doing his work. NOT that he is a saint. Far from it. At times, he can be the class clown, and he has been reprimanded by his teacher more than once for it. Just last week, his teacher and I were chatting and she told me he had to take a "think time" twice that day. Once for running down the hallway and seeing how far he could slide on his knees(what can I say, he loves baseball) and once for daring another student to put pretzel sticks in his nose and pretend he was a walrus. How funny, oops, I mean, naughty, is that? Lucky for him, he is really, really bright and is very goal oriented. So, he likes to get his work done. Today I could tell that the classroom "environment" wouldn't really be conducive to his learning, so when my volunteer time was up, I took him home with me. I fibbed and told the teacher he wasn't feeling well. Which wasn't completely untrue, as he has up the last few nights coughing. Also, he had a really bad blister. Okay, so that's a lame excuse. But it's true!! Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon together. Just me and my Bug.