The Rollercoaster that is Infantíl

My job could be a lot worse. I mean, I spent hours each day singing, playing with puppets and categorizing flashcards. When it’s all said and done, I’ve had fun and got pummeled with hugs, snotty kisses, and usually end up with plasticine somewhere on my clothes. The best piece of advice when starting all this was from Almudena: Throw out your high heels.

Yesterday, after a moderately successful day teaching “Where is Enadina? There she is!” and singing with Ralphie Rabbit, I was finally invited to have lunch with the other infantil teachers. Most are 32 and under, the youngest being Ana and then me. I took it as a big compliment that half the department asked if I’d be coming. We had día de los Papis immediately after, when all the parents come with their crying children to hear us speak about the cirriculum and, really, lay down the law. When María, the school’s director, presented me, saying that our enchantment with one another has been mutual. Phew. Still employed.
I have to say, it is not easy being new in a job. This is worsened when you have kinda no idea what you’re doing and it shows. Add that to the fact the girl who had your job before was amazing at what she did. Everyone from the parents to their kids to the Oxford University Press rep has been calling me Lisa, and when corrected, asks why she is no longer at the school. Bearing, Cat. It will all be ok.
But today, my THREE year olds were the best behaved. One kid threw dirt in another’s eye in 4 years (the dirt came from his pocket), another cried because I sent him to another class after he drew all over the table, and the 5 year olds could not be tamed. Even with another teacher coming in and yelling, they couldn’t follow one direction. And they all have to pee all the time! The second one asks to go, they all do, and they all run at a time into the teeny bathroom.

Preschoolers.

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About Cat Gaa

As a beef-loving Chicago girl living amongst pigs, bullfighters, and a whole lotta canis, Cat Gaa writes about expat life in Seville, Spain. When not cavorting with adorable Spanish grandpas or struggling with Spanish prepositions, she works in higher education at an American university in Madrid and freelances with other publications, like Rough Guides and The Spain Scoop.

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