The Great Cahoon Gong Show

Yes, it's true. We're BACK!! The Great Cahoon Gong Show is now appearing at an Elementary School near you! We can be seen at lunch hour touring the facilities and making the volume of an elementary school double in just 5 seconds flat.

Since the end of September, I have had Kaia's teacher bring Kaia and Mary Grace to the front of the school where I can pick them up. This made perfect sense to me because:

1) I do not have to haul 3 kids in the school, remove their shoes (stupid indoor shoe rule), bring them around all the way to the back corner where they hide the kindergarten class rooms, get the two girls all packed up from their classrooms while juggling the three other kids, start trekking back to the front of the school while dodging all the elementary school kids and eventually getting all 5 children to the front of the school where we have to stop for a 3-5 minute break while everyone gets their outdoor shoes back on, then continue out to the van where I have to get 5 children buckled up into their car/booster seats and then I can continue on home.

2) The kindergarten teachers line up 10 other children and bring them to the front of the school, take them outside and make sure they get on the bus - every day. I don't see how adding 2 more children of the same age, going the same direction is THAT overwhelming - maybe I'm just narrow minded.

3) I don't have to fight to find a parking spot, I can wait pleasantly in front of the school instead of braving the -20 degree weather to go in and get the girls.

So yesterday, after 4 and a half months of doing this happily, or so I thought, the teachers have decided that this is MUCH too overwhelming for them and it is only reasonable to expect me to pick up my own children. After all, other moms pick up their kids every day without any problems.

I was totally taken aback. Maybe I'm just THAT self-centered, but I'm pretty sure the other moms don't have other kids that they're hauling in and out of the school with them. If they do, it is only 1 additional child and they are only picking up 1 child. I have also stated that I am more than happy to pick them up if they could just be brought to the front of the school. That way, I don't have to take my kids out of the van while I go and get them, I can keep an eye on the van while I open the front doors of the school and bring Kaia and Mary Grace out. Happy compromise, right? WRONG!

Anyway, so today was my first day doing the gong show. This morning, Kaia was sitting on the floor, crying and refusing to get dressed unless I promised that she could go to school (this has become part of our daily routine - I personally think there's something wrong there, but that will have to wait for a different rant on a different day). Kienna was lying on the bathroom floor and we had to give her a bucket and send her down stairs so that people could use the toilet and the shower. I changed Saryn and Jaymeson and, because it's "Career Day" for Jarett and he was able to stay home a little later than normal, I just took Kaia and dropped her off at school. I can only drop her off from the main street and she has to run to the back of the school BY HERSELF to get to the Kindergarten doors. I am NOT allowed to drive into the parking lot and watch her go directly to the doors, this would be frustrating for the teachers. Anyway, I dropped Kaia off and came home. I did some cleaning and then I drove Jarett downtown for "Career Day".

I was dreading this pick up, and cursing Kaia's teacher when I saw the sign on the side of the road, "What you think is how you see the World". I decided to think happier thoughts, but, well, you can guess how long THAT lasted.

I had 20-30 minutes to get back in time to pick up Kaia, so we went right to her school. Jaymeson was screaming the whole way. Saryn was saying she's tired because her tummy hurts and was continuing her sick ways of the morning. It begins to snow HEAVILY and people are skidding on the roads. Never fear, we get to school with plenty of time to find a spot to park and run into the school. I do the "unload" and we start walking to the front doors. Kienna and Saryn both are slipping, so I have to hold EVERYONE's hand while carrying Jaymeson (still screaming) in his car seat so that we can make it to the front doors...

Yes! We made it. We take off all our shoes and start the royal invasion down the hallways, darting in and out of the "single-file" lines of students heading to the lunch room. Saryn takes off 3 times down 3 different hallways that lead to, well, I don't know.... I have to put Jaymeson down and tell Kienna to watch him while I run to go collect her and start down the next hallway.

We FINALLY make it to the kindergarten room where Kaia is ready to go. But wait!! Where's Mary Grace?? Kaia helps out with her "I don't know" and I have to hunt down the two hallways to figure out where she is. She had forgotten her Mary-Grace-a-saurus and went back in the classroom to collect it. Now that I found her - oh no!! Where's Saryn?? Taken off again and about to escape out the side doors. Run to collect her and I come back. Kaia's upset....why? Oh, she didn't know where her "Kaia-saurus" was. Phew!! We found it.

Now, everyone hold hands..... DON'T LET GO AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!! But, Mary Grace missed this little note and takes off. She hadn't grabbed her outdoor shoes. It's at this moment that I see their wonderful teacher - who for some reason isn't ranking so high on my list of favorite people. She dares to smile at me like, "See, this isn't so hard..." I wanted to pinch Jaymeson who had finally calmed down, so she could enjoy his sounds too... Howeverm I managed to smile back nicely and not even say a word.

Once all 5 of them were in tow, I started back down the hallways and to the front door. Pause. Shoes, where are the shoes?? We find all the pairs and get them on.....(this is very condensed as it took almost 5 minutes) then back outside. As we leave the building, I notice the looks that I'm getting from other "non-crazy" moms. "Wow, are these ALL yours??" How many times do I have to answer THAT question?? Anyway, as we walk down the side-walk, we are slip sliding EVERYwhere. We get back into the van, buckled up and then take the 2 block drive back to my house. Alright - DONE!!

See, they were right.....Mom's do that ALL the time. It's just not a big deal.

Now, I'm SO excited. I get to do this EVERY DAY until the end of the school year. And they chose February (one of those nice weather months up in Edmonton) to throw this on me.....bless their hearts.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your sneak peak into the Great Cahoon Gong Show. Come see us any and every school day at 11:35 sharp.