Monday 22 February 2016

Mouse in the House!

Phobias huh? Some people sympathise, some people say "It's all in your head!" Now I am one of those people that will try to put 'mind over matter' but honestly if I climb up to the fifth rung on a ladder I get the cold sweats and basically freeze in fear, normally squealing like a small girl.

My Nan was the same with mice. She couldn't even watch Mickey Mouse without cringing and leaving the room. We (my siblings and I) were always warned about my Nan's fear of mice when we were younger. Only now I'm older and have a phobia myself do I understand what people may be going through when they are frozen in fear.

So the school had just returned from the Easter holidays, two weeks of chocolate and 'no children' the teachers were relaxed and refreshed ready for a new term (If you believe that, you'll believe anything! In this modern age of education it was more likely a week at home catching up on assessments, marking and other such endeavours! But this version makes the story more in tune with the myth of school 'holidays').

Anyway with being a Catholic school the whole term before was about 'new life' due to the resurrection of Christ. Don't worry I'm not about to preach at you, I'm just setting the scene. A plethora of wonderful activities had been undertaken, growing butterflies from caterpillars, hatching chicks, making rainbows, honestly it was magical for the children.

One activity that they enjoyed more than all the others was making lard balls full of oats and nuts and such things that birds would like to eat. Then they watched and took pictures of all of the birds that came to feed by their feeders!

Now Mrs. M had looked forward to the Easter holidays all term and subsequently when the last day of term arrived she basically threw everything into her cupboard and forced the door shut then forgot all about it.

Then it happened...

First day back and halfway through her lesson Mrs. M went into her cupboard only to discover a mouse which proceeded to run across the classroom.

Now when Mrs. M had closed her cupboard on the last day of term she didn't realise that she had squeezed in a five kilogram tub of nuts and bird feed.

So, as a teacher you always do you upmost to put the children first in everything (that is unless you have a phobia of mice). Mrs. M went sprinting down the school corridor in fear!

A day later and all had worked tirelessly to clean up the mess, the cupboard was mouse-proofed, there was not a mouse in the whole northern hemisphere that would dare go near Mrs. M's cupboard.

Then it happened again...

What Mrs. M didn't factor in to her mouse problem was the children problem. There was a particularly sly little girl (B) in her class that had observed Mrs. M's extreme reaction to the mouse.
Well we all know kids can be nasty to each other but to adults... NO!!!!

Halfway through the afternoon B screamed "MOUSE!" (There wasn't one there by the way). This triggered Mrs. M into 'Usain Bolt' mode and she shot off down the corridor.

The next day "MOUSE."

The day after the whole class had 'cottoned on.' "MOUSE."

Same reaction. After a week Mrs. M read the story of "The Boy who Cried Wolf." Hoping that this would strike a chord with the children, and it did for the most part. A week went by without any crying of "MOUSE!"

Until one day B, louder than ever screamed "MOUSE!" By this time Mrs. M had had enough and was about to give B the worst telling off of her little 'girl who cried mouses' life! Just as she took a huge breath in a 'real life' mouse ran across her foot.

Mrs. M took off like the road runner leaving a Mrs. M shaped silhouette of smoke like the Road Runner!

Time to shout the chorus like there's a mouse in the classroom!

Oh the things they say!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please comment or reply especially if you have any funny stories!