Bathroom breaks during a teacher’s day are few and far between. They must be strategically planned. You cannot simply run to the restroom anytime you want, especially when you have a room full of kindergarteners…

Teachers are known for having “buddy” teachers. This is typically a teammate working right across the hall. They’re the one who covers your class in case of an emergency, such as a non-scheduled bathroom break. My teammates and I are located at opposite corners of the building. We might as well live in another state when it comes to emergency situations.

My closest teacher neighbor is one hallway and a half away. She, of course, is always willing to help. I just have to pick up the phone, make a call, and pray she answers. Such a call was made today during my kindergarten class. Thank goodness she answered!

There were fifteen minutes left before a break. I was not going to make it. And I was pretty sure the school nurse would not have any dry clothes in my size. The only problem, she had kids in her room too and could not walk down to my classroom right at that moment.

What did I do? Told my little friends that we needed to go somewhere. “Line up! Follow me!” We rounded the corner and I asked them to sit in the hallway outside my friend’s classroom. Quickly looked in to let her know my students were sitting outside her door and ran into the restroom right across the hall. Phew! Students were supervised. Crisis averted!

Walking out of the restroom, I thanked my teacher friend, looked at my students and said, “Ok, we can go back to class now.” They were all smiles, though a little confused, as I let them skip down the hallway back to the music room.

The funniest part? As we headed back to class, one precious little boy looked at me so sincerely and asked, “Mrs. Morris, where did you go?”