Anyone who does not believe in the effects of a full moon on people should visit a daycare on such a day. My daycare is not spared the side effects of this unfortunate monthly event. Children that normally are compliant show their mischievous side, from plugging the toilet, to suddenly not using indoor voices, or being violent with each other. Parents come in late, frazzled, and grateful to be leaving their children for the day. Perhaps it is just a coincidence that the toughest days land during a full moon. In addition, maybe we are just very aware of a full moon, so we are looking for trouble. A story that supports the theory was one of the most difficult days I had to endure.
A thunderstorm had settled in. The power kept shutting off intermittently. Children were suffering from cabin fever, and their parents were grumpy. Full moon fever had set in, and no one was happy. Trying to get through the day was already proving to be a heroic feat. No one liked snack. The story was boring. Everyone wanted to go outside and the weather was not cooperating. Attempting to do an organized game was too much for some of the children to understand. Toys were constantly being fought over. Frustrated, I knew I just had to get to “quiet time”, hoping to have some time to regroup and take a deep breath. Successfully getting through lunch time, and after washing everyone up, I got them all settled. Although taking more time than normal, I finally had a chance to sit.
I started planning my afternoon, hoping to survive the day. Suddenly my ears heard a giggle coming from one of the rooms a little one was napping in. Snapping my tired body into action I ran to the room, a little too late. Black (non-toxic) marker painted my daughter’s wall, and dresser. Somehow this child managed to reach up from her playpen and found a marker. My heart sunk. Getting her up, trying to clean up the mess, in addition to paying attention to the rest of the children was overwhelming. This child had never done something like this before, and her nap had never been less than two hours, today was 25 minutes 🙁 . Once I got her cleaned, and tried to settle her, the rest of the kids were already getting restless again.
Bringing everyone to the table to make play dough seemed like a good way to keep everyone in place and entertained. Getting all the ingredients together, allowing the children to pick out the new colors, smiles were finally forming. Mixing the dough, explaining to the kids that I was putting flour in front of them so they could further mix the dough. Turning my back to grab the new play dough provided them enough time to all blow their flour everywhere.
Bringing out the big Lego for the kids to play with normally brings about peace. Lego got jammed into a heating vent. Everyone wanted the Lego other kids were playing with. I had to put them away. We tried dancing, hoping to get rid of energy. No one liked the song, nor could they agree on one to dance to. I brought out the puzzles, just for them to bend and break the pieces. Then we took a big deep breath, attempting yoga and exercises’ for the kids, for everyone to just complain. Taking the time between each task to ask them what they want to do, only for them to say, “I don’t know”, followed by, “We’re bored”.
Parents ran late picking up their children. Children got impatient waiting for their parents. Ending the day with fighting, crying, and no one getting along, the day slowly waned to an end. I survived, barely 🙂