When a Monday goes how you thought it would
Let’s talk about last Monday.
Day after daylight savings. Week of the full moon. Week of Friday the 13th. Corona virus is spreading around the globe while lice, influenza A and Step are all flying through my room like bats out of hell. It’s 11am and we are already circling the drain. The melt downs are real, the paperwork is piling up and then it happens.
I have a kid who always wears the legs of his pants tucked into his socks. This is special ed, so we don’t question it. You do you buddy. He didn’t look good and I had sent him down to the nurse twice because he’s complaining of stomach issues, but they said he had no fever and sent him back. About 11:15am he stands up and asks to go to the bathroom very urgently. I say yes! Run! He starts and then he stops with a panicked look on his face. And then the smell. Oh the smell. He had diarrhea so bad it filled his pant legs.
Now, fortunately he tucks his pants into his socks so it’s not dripping on the floor but he can’t walk and he’s almost 10 so I can’t carry him. I pull out my emergency tarp (you know, the small ones they give you thinking in the event of a natural disaster it’ll be big enough to shield you and 40 kids from the elements) and have him stand on it. One of my paras holds his hands while I pull the tarp and we drag him down to the nurses office. In that moment I was glad I wasn’t a school nurse.