As a Special Education teacher, I have learned to do and be a lot of things over the years; flexible, patient, gentle, compassionate, adaptable, tough, quick thinking, quick reacting, and… did I mention patient? Most of all, I have learned to laugh at myself, because my students will create these moments in time that will either make a teacher or break a teacher. In the end, it is all about how one responds.
Part of my student’s educational program is toilet training. Similar to potty training a toddler, we work on communicating the need to go, learning to sit on a toilet seat or an adapted potty chair, and more. We have specially adapted potty chairs with seat belts, trays, and pee guards. Our bathroom has a changing table and support station, all designed to assist our students in the toileting process. Potty training our girls is easy. Potty training our boys always presents a unique challenge because, well, you know!!!!!
It was a Wednesday morning, and we started our school day like we always do, putting our students on the potty. Ben was our kindergartner who was capable of sitting on a regular toilet seat with a pee guard, where, for the most part, he would do nothing. We were not having a whole lot of success. Ben would sit, and sit, and sit. On this particular morning, I followed our usual routine, and had Ben sit on the toilet. After about ten minutes of sitting, I approached Ben to get him up. Standing in front of Ben, I touch his shoulder and tell him to stand. As he makes the move to stand, I start to feel a wet, warm sensation on my leg. I look down and then jump backwards when I realize Ben is peeing, and it is getting on my pant leg! Yep, Ben peed, and it landed on me!
I had no pants to change into, and I lived too far away to go home to change. But, we did have a washing machine and dryer in the classroom, so I knew I could wash my pants. Only problem was… I had nothing to change into. My para-educators and I started brainstorming my options. We all three concluded that the only clothes in our classroom big enough to fit me was Ben’s extra pair of athletic shorts (he’s a big boy)! So, here I am, at 9:00 in the morning, changing into my student’s athletic shorts to wash my pants in the classroom’s washing machine. As you are reading this, you are probably laughing by now, but the story actually gets even better. You see Ben peeing on me was not my most embarrassing moment. My most embarrassing moment was having to explain to my principal, who happened to walk in around 10:30am, why I was dressed in my student’s dark blue athletic shorts in the middle of the school day!