I’ve been away for a few days. Got caught up googling “Governors of Alaska.“ It’s been a nice diversion in this humid summer heat. Many of us have already been over at the school buildings setting up our classes. It’s very rewarding as you know volunteer work always is. There are a few things we discovered while we were there, that you may want to know about. It might be a good idea for you to send a fly swatter to school with your child for the first couple weeks. The wasp chat rooms have been full. Stories have been passed from wasp to wasp reliving doorway escapades of days gone by. They’re after the sweet stuff, or the packages it came in and they can’t wait. The ones assigned to the windows will find easy entry in lots of places where screens have been damaged, removed and not replaced. Our choice on hot days is stifling heat or distracting, nasty wasps. You can't smack heat, so send flyswatters. If you are are uncomfortable with insect road kill, teach your children how to trap. You will be responsible for transporting them to the other school down the street and setting them free in the stairwells.
You will want to send a spray bottle or personal fan along with your child. As you may know, there is no air conditioning in the elementary school classrooms. On days of high humidity and temperatures of eighty-five or ninety, nausea and light headedness may occur. In the past we have filled trays with water for kids to put their feet in, purchased popsicles for them or gone out for water balloon play, but that kind of cool only lasts a short time so consider getting a spray bottle of water for cooling purposes.
Teach your kids fan protocol. We only have one per room, so air hogging will not be tolerated. Kids cannot sit right in front of the fan, blocking the air to everyone else. Fingers can be brought close to the fan blades, although before we dismiss, we’ll let each kid sing into the fan while it’s on, so they can laugh at their exaggerated vibratos, hands behind backs of course.
No spaghetti straps, hemlines no shorter than where your fingers touch your leg with hands to sides and no unacceptable-to-most-parents graphic art or text on t-shirts. Leave home the "My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad" and"Teachers Suck" t-shirts. "I'm With Stupid" probably shouldn't be worn either. This goes for the teachers too.
