Vignettes from Work

"Miss Kara, I have to use it."

I look down at the pencil in my hand and at the piece of paper on the desk, dumbfounded. It? After a moment, I extend the pencil to the child, who looks at me, baffled.

"I have to use it."

"The pencil? Or the paper?"

"It."

It is at this point that I notice the cross-cultural potty dance and take him to the bathroom. Having to "use it" was a phrase I would hear many more times, and while I understood what each child meant, there were times when I'd be working on something else and absent-mindedly ask, "Use what?" This never failed to have the kids looking at me like I'd grown a third eye.


Miss Jackie and I take the kindergarteners outside for fun with jump ropes. We lay them out on the ground like snakes and walk the length of them. We also hop back and forth over them.

Then we get the kids to lay them out in different shapes.

Show us a circle. Most of the shapes are at least round and resemble a circle, so we decide to move up to triangles.

"Who can tell us the difference between a triangle and a circle?" asks Miss Jackie. After a little coaxing, it is established that a triangle has three points.

Show us a square.

"What's the difference between a triangle and a square?" asks Miss Jackie.

One child's face lights up, and he starts waving his arm around.

"Yes?"

He is so certain this is the correct answer that he beams.

"Yellow."

Shortly after explaining the other differences between triangles and squares, we moved onto making imaginary houses with jump ropes.

"Miss Kara, are you married?"

"Heh, no."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Nope."

"Then you and Mr. Chris should get married."

"Okay, Destini, you can plan our wedding."

A smile spreads across her face.

"Well, Mr. Chris is going to need to be wearing a suit, and you'll have to have heels. You should have the babies before the wedding, so they can carry your train, but if you are fat because you're pregnant, I know where you can get a dress for that, too."


One of the first days of camp, a little girl crawls into my lap.

"Can I come live with you?"

"Oh, dear, I've only got one bedroom and no kitchen."

"You got a husband?"

"Nope."

"What about a boyfriend?"

"Nope."

"Who do you sleep with then?"

"No one."

"Oh, well then we can share a bed, and I can come live with you."

During our chalk day, one little girl is making fun of a boy because he has some chalk on his face. I sit down next to them and put some chalk on my own face.

"Miss Kara, are you excited for your date tonight?" Miss Jill asks from across the sidewalk.

I smile.

"Of course."

"Oooh, Miss Kara, you've got a date?" The kids are intensely interested in the love lives of their teachers.

"Yes, I do. Would you like to do my makeup?" I hand the little girl a piece of chalk.

It takes less than a minute for eight hands to start scribbling on my face. I was even told to close my eyes, so they could put my eyeshadow on. At the end of what felt like ten minutes but was probably four, I was judged a work of art and fit for dinner.