SOL26....Cleaning off Tables

Cleaning Off Tables

     As the last kids left for the day, I looked around the room. I opened up my room again for kids to come during lunch. I love giving the kids a room to come hang out in, but it also means I have a TON of food in the room too, which I'm not always so fond of. The garbage is always full and smelly and the tables get sticky and gross. Cleaning the tables frequently is a necessity. I usually have the kids wipe them off a few times a week, but we hadn't done it last week or this week. The last few weeks we were PARCC testing, so I didn't have as many kids in lunch as I normally would. I told myself I didn't need to wipe them off, but looking at them now, they definitely could have used it. Yikes. 

     I glanced around the room at each table. They didn't look like they needed to be wiped down too badly. I took a step closer to inspect the table nearest me. Up close, I could see the marks and smears. They definitely needed to be wiped down. As I walked over to the cabinet to grab wipes, I checked the floors too. I wasn't planning on wiping them, but any garbage or scraps of paper I tried to pick up before leaving. The floors didn't look too bad. Someone had left their book on a table in the corner and there were some scraps under the table nearest me. Other than that, they weren't too bad.
     I pulled a wipe out of the container and moved back to the table nearest me. I dropped the wipe on the table and rolled up my sleeves. I paused as I was rolling up the second sleeve. If I was going to be wiping tables for the next few minutes, I might as well turn on music to listen to. I made my way back over my computer and pulled up Spotify. When I pulled it up, it showed the last playlist I had going. Oldies. Oldies like 50's and 60's oldies. It was my favorite playlist. I hadn't initially been planning on listening to that playlist, but seeing it pulled up now I decided it was exactly what I want to hear.
     I scrolled down, checking names as I went. Beatles? Nah. The Crystals? Maybe. The Supremes? Definitely maybe. The Drifters, Four Top, Righteous Brothers....I scrolled through them all. I couldn't decide on who I wanted to listen to. Finally, after spending what felt like forever scrolling the list, I made my way back up to the top. Instead of choosing one specific artist to listen to, I just decided to play them all on mix. I hit the shuffle button and turned the volume up on the computer so I would be able to hear it across the room. I started making my way back toward the tables when I turned to go back to the computer. I pushed the button to turn the music up two more times. Just to be sure. Why not?
     As I walked back over to the table with my wipe ready and waiting for me, I heard the first notes of "Under the Boardwalk" start playing. Perfect. It was one of the ones I'd wanted to choose. No matter how many times I listened to these songs, I still couldn't get enough. It gave me warm, happy thoughts of sitting out by the bonfire late at night while music blared out back patio doors. S'mores. Cherry Kool-aid. Big, fluffy slippers. I started humming along as I picked up the wipe and started cleaning the first table.
     With the music in the background, wiping the tables was almost relaxing. It was a chore I knew how to do and didn't have to think while doing it. My brain could drift off, thinking back to today's lessons. What went well? What do we need to review for tomorrow? What do I need to do for tomorrow? I slowly ran through my checklist as I wiped each table, checking off things I'd already done and making a mental note for things still needing to be done. I could feel my body relaxing, my muscles loosening. The day was done and I could breathe...