Primary

I have been in primary a long time. This year we're teaching the nine-year-olds and, let me tell you, teaching four nine-year-olds is a heck of a lot nicer than teacher nine four-year-olds. And I don't even usually say "heck" so that says a lot right there.

I think I've been back in primary since I was 19 (with a few breaks (our summer in Jordan...and that might be just about it)). I'm now 25. That's six years of primary, and the funny thing is that if I had been a Sunbeam when I started I would be in the nine-year-old class now, which is where I am. Maybe in three more years I can graduate from primary. We'll see.

Senior primary, though, is awesome. We walked into class with some ground rules but we didn't even really need to because the kids listed off the rules before we even told them what they were. It's like they've already spent several years being formally educated or something. They all sat down in their chairs the whole time, raised their hands before giving answers, and when they asked if we brought treats and I told them, "Treats are for babies; if you want a treat you can go back to nursery," no one cried.

I think I like nine-year-olds.

Sure, they had their annoying moments but it was nothing compared to herding four-year-olds all day.

For the past six months I've left church feeling exhausted and annoyed. Every week. Today I left church feeling fine. And Miriam threw up on me. Twice. So...I suppose I enjoy being with nine-year-olds and getting thrown up on more than I enjoy being stuck with four-year-olds all day.

It wasn't all the four-year-olds that were the problem; there are just half of them that...ummmm...are consistently "on one," if you know what I'm mean. They're out of control and it gets...exhausting...to have to deal with several out-of-control children all at once for several hours at a time.

This is why I don't teach kindergarten, in case you were wondering.

But I think I'm going to like senior primary.

Rachel loved primary, too. That's right. She made the leap from nursery to primary today (and she did it without treats, so if she can do it, so can you (nine-year-olds, I'm looking at you)). She was so excited to go to Sunbeams. We sang Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam before bed last night and she was saying, "It's true! He wants me! He wants me for a sunbeam!"

When I met her after church and asked her how her day went she looked up at me with glistening eyes and grinned, "I had two classes, Mom!"

After sacrament meeting she goes to junior primary with the children ages 3-7 to have sharing time and singing time and then they split into individual classes. She thought it was the best day, ever.

Her teacher is the mother to one of the boys in my class so we stopped in the hall to chat for a bit. She said Rachel did great and I said that her son did great. I have to admit that I'm a little jealous of her—since there are only four Sunbeams this year. So she gets to watch Rachel in primary.

I actually asked to not be Rachel's teacher but then I was getting kind of sad about not being her teacher but then I remembered that it would be much better for her to have someone else teach her for a while. To give us a little break from each other.

Perhaps the best part of today was that when we got home it was lunchtime instead of dinnertime! After lunch we started a new family tradition of "rest time" and it worked fabulously. Miriam and I napped for nearly three hours (a waste of an afternoon, I know, but I was still up with Miriam at 6:00 this morning (and she got up at 2:00) so it was a well-needed nap) while Daddy read in his office and Rachel played in the front room. She drew pictures, did puzzles, read stories, played with blocks, and even set up a little bed on the couch (that she did not sleep in).

When rest time was "over" she asked if we could do it again next Sunday. Then she asked if next Sunday was tomorrow. Andrew said it wasn't and I told her that she was welcome to have rest time tomorrow (and everyday) if she wanted. I am thrilled that she is old enough to entertain herself for three hours...mostly by drawing ankhs...but whatever floats your boat.

Since this is our last "free" weekend before the semester starts Andrew said he'd do something with me. So I'm just waiting for him to finish whatever it is he's doing so that we can decide on something to do. He's taking forever though...so if I seem to be blabbering...it's because I'm just waiting for him to finish.