When the cat's away...

the second graders play.

Isn't that how it goes?

Why is it that the second my littles leave my sight (or I leave theirs) they morph into these crazy, out of control creatures that I do not even recognize? I had to leave early today for an appointment and during the brief 2 hours and 10 minutes I was gone my kids apparently went bonkers.

Let me clarify that the afternoon went something like this:

1:00-2:00pm Kids in music
2:00-2:30pm Kids with counselor
2:30-3:10pm Special activity with ELD teacher (since I was gone)

So, they really only missed 40 minutes with me. But apparently they lost their minds. The music teacher said they were awful, the counselor said there was no way a single one of them could tell me what they talked about because they were too busy having their own conversations, and based on what one of the kids told me after school, their time with the ELD teacher did not go so well.

I don't get it. For the most part they are fine with me. Sure-I have a few naughties, but they straighten out usually.

Did I mention that my baby is due in a mere 8 weeks? Holy potential disaster Batman.

What do I do?

On one hand, I want to hold those responsible, well...responsible. On the other hand, I want to tell some of my consistently well behaved kiddos that when they see someone breaking rules they need to SAY SOMETHING!!! We are a team after all.

So this is my dilemma: I'm really wanting to hold the entire class accountable for behavior when I'm not around. In my mind, if you sit there and watch as your buddy is writing on his desk with a marker instead of listening and you say nothing, then you are at fault, too. Is that terrible thinking? It's not that I want them to screech at each other "Shhhhhhhh!!!!" or "You're going to get us in trouble!" I want them to point out the rule being broken and give the kid the opportunity to fix it or risk being "reported" to the teacher.

I don't know what to do.

Help!