My CTR 5 Class

I got called to be a primary teacher in church a few weeks ago. The kids are 4 year olds turning 5 this year. Since I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old, one a boy, one a girl, I thought my bases were covered. I can handle this age, and I can handle both genders. WEll---My first Sunday was a little rough. I have 2 kids that are absolute motor mouths--I could not keep them quiet for 2 seconds. I would say "Okay, it's my turn to talk. You can tell me your story after class." Then they would keep going and going till I was saying, "You need to be quiet. Please quit talking RIGHT NOW. Close your mouth and don't say anything else." Even the play dough I brought wasn't enough to keep them busy. I thought I was so prepared-and such a fun teacher to bring them each their own little play dough to take home.

The first Sunday there were 6 kids. The funny thing is that there is one boy (who I live across the street from) that was not there. The thing about this boy is that he is a terror. I about died when I saw him on my attendance sheet. He and his brother catch the bus with Marissa. They fight (kick, hit, punch, tackle) all the time. They scream at each other, push each other in the road, refuse to get on the bus, and use VERY Profane language. Well, they are inactive, and embarrassingly enough, I've been kinda glad (I know that's bad of me).

Yesterday, this inactive boy showed up for the first time. That in and of itself would have made the day enough of a challenge, but we had an older missionary couple leaving on their mission. They have 10 kids who all have large families, so I had 5 extra boys in my class. They are cousins and were all hyper and excited to be with each other. So, my class was huge, but we did pretty good for the first little while. At the end, all heck broke loose. We were making little booklets on "How to keep the Sabbath day holy" (Yes, quite ironic) They were supposed to color and cut out 8 pages, then I'd staple them together. So, I have like 4 kids saying, "Teacher, I need help". My terror boy finished very first, and is now standing on top of his chair, with his belt off, swinging it in circles over his head. 2 of the cousins are cutting each others pants with the scissors and shouting "I'm going to staple your bottom." Another cousin has shredded an entire sheet of paper into tiny squares. The whole room is a disaster of crayons, paper scraps, scissors, and kids articles of clothing (shoes, ties, belts) that have now come off. Then, to top it off, a little girl comes up to me with blood dripping down the front of her--bloody nose.

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPP!!!!

Just then, 2 members of the presidency peek their heads in--"Do you need any help in here?" Need they even ask? We were in a state of utter chaos.

I was so proud of myself for going to bed early the night before. I was sure I would be good and awake in sacrament meeting and that I would be okay without a Sunday nap. WEll, I was exhausted after 2 hours with these little children of God. You know, they really should have 2 teachers per class--especially in a ward like ours, with so many willing people--so you aren't stuck in primary for 2 of the 3 hours, and you can go to either Relief Society or Sunday School.

Anyway, I'm glad it's conference this weekend.