The Jail

We had indoor recess today.  Indoor recess is kind of a drag.  The kids get very hyper.  I usually stay with them during indoor recess.  Otherwise, my afternoon really suffers.

Today I told them that I could not handle the screaming.  There's no reason to scream, I explained.  And then I added, "If you scream, I will give you a warning.  You will get two warnings.  On your third screaming episode, you will come and sit in this chair next to me, while I play Connect 4. You will sit in this chair for 5 minutes."

The first kid went down about four minutes after my announcement.  I told him that he was now in Heffernan Jail and that his five minutes would feel like 5 years especially since all he could have was bread and water.  I handed him an "air plate" and said, "Here's your bread and water. That's it, Prisoner."  He thought that was pretty funny and soon began giving me hints on how to win Connect 4.  The next two went down soon thereafter.  After consuming their air plate of bread and water, they asked me, "Do you want to play UNO?" I said yes. "Sometimes I do interact with the prisoners," I told them. I looked at my watch and said, "You have three more years in your cell."    They beat me handily at UNO.  

I can't say the afternoon ran smoothly after that.  I probably should have let them scream a lot more during indoor recess. If we have indoor recess tomorrow, I'm going to put on the big headphones that we use in the computer lab and focus only on Connect 4. Or mancala.