Last night was one of those nights at work when I realize that there is nothing else like it.
We have a deaf girl who helps out on busy nights and Wednesday is definately one of those nights. It is important to note at this point that I know so very little sign language. So anyway, the girl comes into the office and gets my attention. I recognize the sign "toilet" (which is an important sign to know if you work with children) and deduce that there are two children who have gone to the bathroom and have yet to return. My job is to find them and return them. Oh, I don't know who they are. I just know they will be between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. Thats it.
So I walk down the hallway and see a little girl and her mom coming out of the restroom. She looks about the right age, so she must be one of them. I peek my head in the restroom and see it is full so I figure the other one is in there and I will wait by the door.
At this point I look down the hallway and see the helper gesturing and realize that the two children are boys and in the boys restroom.
Damn.
I hate dealing with the boys bathroom. It always smells and it makes me uncomfortable as I am not a male.
So I walk up to the boys bathroom and do a timid little knock and ask if they are okay. Nothing. The door is cracked so I peek in and see two tiny sets of feet in one stall. Great. I stand in the hallway a moment debating what to do. I am not comfortable enough to enter the boys bathroom and demand they return to class (a teacher only asks me to retrieve a child if they've been gone a while...so apprently these boys are MIA to their teacher). I hope that they will just finish up on their own and I can then shoo them to class.
Nope. I peek in again and they are still standing in the stall. I also notice that their pants are strewn about.
GREAT. This is not in my job description (actually, this falls under "other").
So I tap again and open the door a little further and say "do you guys need any help?" To this I get a response. One of the little boys comes out of the stall and says yes. And there in front of me is a boy of his late 3s who has no pants on and a shirt just covering his parts. Oh lordy.
"Okay." I say. "How about you get your pants on." He looks at me, grabs a pair of shorts and with one hand holding them at an angle, attempts to put them on. It doesn't work. He brings them to me. "Can you help?" Ok. But at this point I realize there are no underwear in the shorts. So I ask him where they are. "I dunno." Um, are those it over there? "No." Um, did you wear underwear here today? "I dunno."
Oh geez. Fine, lets just get your pants on. Okay wash your hands and we'll get you back to class. At this point the other little boy comes out of the stall with a shirt that just barely covers things too. I ask if he's finished and he says yes.
"Please put your pants on then."
He puts on his pull ups on and comes over to me.
"And your pants please." He finally puts those on too. He then turns around and sees the urinal. "I have to go again."
"I highly doubt that." But he strips his pants off. He walks up to the urinal, to which his head just barely comes up to the bottom of the thing.
"You can't reach it."
"Yes I can." And he starts jumping!
"Ahhhh. Stop. If you must, pull the stool over."
I give up. I will just try to get the first boy to class. He is done washing and drying so we walk back to the gym door. I see his teacher and ask where the other boy's mom is. I explain I can't get him out. He's playing. She looks around, lost like and finally sees someone to whom she goes to talk to.
At this time I turn around to go check on boy 2 and see boy 1 at the water fountain. WHAT? I did my job and returned him to class. HOW did he end up in the hallway at the water fountain!?! So I talk to him and he decided to go back to class. We walk that way and run into the woman headed to the bathroom. Apparently, its his mom. So he turns around and follows her.
Ahhhh! I can not get these kids to go back to class!! The mom walks into the bathroom and tells the little boy to get his pants on and get back to class. "This is not how we act."
I look at her and timidly say, "I tried. Its not easy."
