Cleaning Product #5

I learned something new today. I learned something from a group of 9 year olds. And my mother would be proud, because I learned about a new cleaning product. A while back, my mom posted about cleaning tips. As if the fact that she febreezes her shih tzu wasn't amazing enough, what wowed everyone is that she only uses four products (light maintenance products not included). Well, add another product to your list, Mom...

Shaving Cream!!!!!

As you all know, the school year is coming to an end. This means many things for many people. For moms, it means daycare, sending kids to summer camps, going to summer ball games... For kids, it means running through sprinklers, sleeping in, and many many days off... For teachers it means the grueling task of shutting down the classroom for 12 weeks of vacancy. I started this task today. We started by clearing out the desks. That part was pretty easy. 10 minutes, 3 full trash cans, 2 full recycling bins, and 19 bulging backpacks later, it was done. Easy enough. Then I told them to pull the name tags, cursive letter lines, and homework charts off their desks. Now, at the beginning of the year, I had the fabulous idea of attaching all of these things with double sided tape. As the year progressed, my students had the fabulous idea of adding more tape, all the way around everything, when I wasn't watching (or they thought I wasn't). I thought it was cute. I had a thing for scotch tape myself when I was there age, so it was a bonding moment. I also thought it was cute when they spilled water, soda, punch, and other liquids on their desk during various parties. (I also had a thing for spilling things at their age.) However, I did not think it was cute at all when they began pulling at these various desktop items, and I realized immediately that tape and spillage do not mix! I was horrified to see that half of it came off, half of it didn't, and the desktops, in a matter of seconds, were sticky, gluey, gobby, terrible messes!

I had no clue what to do! So, I did what any cool as a cucumber teacher would do when faced with unexpected disaster (and a very angry custodian). I laughed and said "start picking!" They did not laugh. As a matter of fact, as they set to picking, they began grumbling under their breaths about how no other teacher made them do this. Somewhere in all the grumbling and complaints, I overheard some girls talking about how in second grade they used shaving cream. Shaving cream? I never thought for a minute that it would work, but it was worth a shot. While the kids were in PE, I ran across the street to City Market, and bought five cans of the stuff. When the kids returned, I told them that we were going to do the last science experiment of the school year. Then I proceded to walk up to a table group and unload an entire can all over their desks. What followed was a few moments of dropped jaws, staring, silence, and a chirping cricket. (No joke, there really was a cricket - the second one we have had in the room this year.) Then, they dove in!

We had so much fun! It was a party! The desks were covered, the kids were covered, even I was covered in shaving cream! They played in it, and drew pictures, and giggled, and gabbed about how much fun I am! It was a hoot! And, for the miraculous part! When I went around with a wet rag, and a dry rag, and began cleaning the desks one at a time, there was not a sticky spot on them! The tape and stick washed away when I rinsed the rags and we washed our hands. I even had a parent come in and comment on having never seen the desks so clean! It was fabulous and fun!

But...and there is always a but...I don't think my principal was as impressed as I was. At some point in all the craziness, I looked up and realized that my principal and his second in command were standing in the doorway. I have no idea how long they had been watching my fantastic teaching methods, but the looks on their faces told me it may have been a while. I quickly mumbled something about testing a theory on the cleaning properties of common hygiene products. I don't really know if I was trying to be funny, but they didn't laugh. As a matter of fact, the only response I got was "you're not getting that on the carpet, I hope." I quickly choked out, "no" as I used the toe of my shoe to cover the most obvious spot. When I looked up, they were gone.

However, the classroom now looks spectacular, with clean desks and a spotless carpet. This is all a good thing considering our janitor decided to quit last week, and my room hasn't been cleaned in days (nor will it be cleaned tonight). So, I'm pretty sure I still have a job next year, and now I have a new cleaning product sitting in my shower that I didn't even know about! Life is good, even when it's hectic!

So, now that I have informed everyone about a revolutionary new product, I must tend to the cupcakes I promised my students for tomorrow. I am not thrilled about pumping them full of yet more sugar this week, nor am I thrilled about getting crumbs all over our squeaky clean desks, but I promised, so I must come through. If I get my counter sticky, which is inevitable, at least I now know how to clean it up. (This is a good thing, because I used all my simple green killing a massive spider. I wonder if shaving cream works on bugs....)