"Pika!" shouted a little girl towards me. "Pika?" I repeated. "Like the mountain rodent?" "Chu!" she answered. "I'm a Pikachu!" "Ah, a special kind of rodent!" I replied. Another girl had gathered her clutch of pine cones (eagle eggs) and coaxed me to act out the role of a newly-hatched eagle. A group of boys collected a caterpillar and various beetles - some ladybugs and maybe some Asian beetles.
Elsewhere, I noted kids earnestly puzzling out the rules of "Among Us." Last week, a group of elementary kids approached and had me choose Imposters with a combination of head or shoulder taps. It's interesting to be involved in the game at this level, since I have no idea what the rules are and can't appreciate the chaos I create with my choices.
I intervene to keep arguments from spiraling out of control. Today, I tried to get two girls arguing over singing a song to sing in unison together, but they weren't having any of it. Sometimes you have just got to separate them. Two boys argued over Lego-like toys. One boy told the other boy that he couldn't understand or appreciate the gravity and importance of his construction - the only thing keeping the coyotes from blowing the entire school into smithereens. The other boy scoffed at the entire idea.
Since I've seen these kids several times now, they are beginning to get comfortable with my presence. I could tell one stressed girl in particular was beginning to relax. Progress. I'm getting better at not overreacting as kids scream desperately for help. They aren't in trouble, it's that they are playing mother/daughter, and it's the duty of the girl playing the mother to respond, not my duty. One girl started crying because she lost her little orange plastic fox during recess. We searched everywhere, but no luck.
Last week, the kids had fake kites that couldn't fly well. Today they had real kites, and they flew!
"Pika!"
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