recess 101

I was introduced into the world of Recess Volunteering this mid-morning. I went to the parent's council board meeting last night for Corgans' school---which I'll tangent off for just a second to address.... Seriously the things they motioned for and passed were a little retarded. Yes, retarded. Water bottles for the kids so they didn't have to have the teachers bring in bottled water. What ever happened to drinking fountains? I know his school has them because the first time we went to visit his school, he and Lily had to drink out of every single one in the hall that led to his classroom. There were at least six. And then some wise guy asked the question of what kind of plastic the bottles were made from. No joke. It's not like we live in the Sahara and our children are miles away from the nearest watering hole...

And I'm back---

So I signed up to help out at recess on Thursdays from 11:30-12ish. And that's where I met Jody. Picture if you will, the typical recess lady. A 40-something woman a bit overweight, lanyards with security pass and whistle around her neck, black fanny pack with anything a little boo-boo might need around her waist, long over-treated hair pulled back into a low ponytail, slight smokers voice with the smell of her last "break" on her breath. That's Recess Lady Jody. She was the one to instruct me in the ways of discipline of the play yard. She is a no nonsense lady who would scare the tater tots out of me if I were a kid playing on her territory. In the 3 short minutes she took explaining everything to me, all in one breath, which was impressive to me considering the nature of her cancer stick addiction; I knew which kids to look out for, the basic rules of the playground, and where my post would be. She has her own twisted sense of humor about the whole thing and for obvious reasons and some not so obvious, I totally respected her from the get go. The kids know not to mess with Miss Jody. And now me included.
It was fun to be there and watch Corgan in his elementary world interacting with other futures of America. And it's nice to still have him not be embarrassed by having his mommy with him at school. Because I can be quite embarrassing at times.