I find myself in an interesting role as a Kindergarten teacher. I am part mother and caretaker to 23 little people and part commander of a hoard of children that will do whatever I instruct them to. So just like Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility: I nurture and care for them, and they believe everything I say to be the absolute truth. Sometimes I do a good job with my role, and others times I wonder if parents should really leave their children with me for 10 hours a day. Here is are glimpses of both the mother-ish side of my job, and the power-wielding side.

Mother Skattebo-
When you open up the average purse of a 24-year-old, the contents would be fairly similar: lip gloss, lotion, wallet, phone, etc.
The contents of my purse are that of a 40-year-old mother. This didn't really hit me until I was at my church small group with all "non-teachers." I reached into my bag to grab a pen, and instead grabbed a bag with 2 big, unwashed carrots. This had been a teacher gift from one of my sweet little boys that barely speaks English. He had handed the carrots to me that morning without any explanation. Apparently most people don't carry carrots in their purses because I had a lot of explaining to do at my small group. The current contents of my purse are a toy car, a Crayola marker, a strawberry shortcake rubber stamp, a couple crayons, some cutouts and drawings from my students, and some buttons- mostly confiscated items that have yet to be returned...
I also have been know to show up at gatherings with paperclips in my hair, paint on my pants, yarn around my waist instead of a belt (maybe that's just a Katie thing and not a mother thing...), home-made pins on my shirt, and teachery necklaces and other festive garb on. The worst was when I jokingly wore an ugly Thanksgiving sweater to work and everyone just complimented it instead of realizing it was a joke. My reality has become something I would otherwise poke fun of! Yikes!

All-Knowing and Powerful Skattebo-
Right before Christmas break, we took the Kindergartners to the Children's Museum of Houston. When we got back to school, my kids were quietly journaling at their seats when the power went out. A unified gasp rose up as my kids all looked to me for the reason behind the loss of light. "It's OK guys, the power just went out," I said trying to minimize the event.
"Well, can you try to make it come back on?" they asked.
It may have been the lack of sleep that week or just a general weirdness that comes with hanging around 5-year-olds all day that caused me to do the following, but for some reason, I decided to have a little fun with the request.
I threw my arms up in the air towards the lights and yelled, "Lights! Please come back on!!" and then proceeded to make a high pitched turkey-like noise as I wiggled my fingers. As soon as I stopped my performance, the lights in our classroom literally faded back on! I was just as surprised by this coincidence as my students were. "You're magic!!!" they all squealed with delight.
"Yeah, now sit down or I'll make you disappear!" (Like I said, some times I use my position better than at other times...) They happily got back to work, now thinking that their Kindergarten teacher not only knows everything but has magical powers too. Who am I to tell them otherwise?!?