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Lunch Break
Everything was going downhill.
Half of the daycare was quiet and calm, but the vast majority had descended into complete and utter chaos. Cleo should not have left for the bathroom. A singular Mr. Jimmy was nowhere near enough people to take care of the whole group. He was already too preoccupied with Bdubs, who had managed to shove an undetermined but impressive number of marbles up his nose. “Alright, there you go buddy,” Jimmy soothed as he pulled another glass bead from his sinuses. He sighed as the toddler sitting on his desk blubbered out apologies though snot and tears, clutching his favorite toy horse like his life depended on it.
“Hi.” Jimmy looked over Bdubs’ shoulder to find Etho making adorably effective grabby hands towards the toy. “No, Etho, your friend needs this right now!” Etho grumbled, losing some of his ‘sweet-innocent-child’ mystique as he stomped off to play with blocks on the carpet in the far corner of the classroom. Jimmy turned his focus back to Bdubs, adjusting the angle of his desk light to see better. He started to wonder if Cleo had just left him for good.
Maybe they’d gone to get a coffee or something? ‘If she did, she’d better bring one back for me, too.’ He thought. As much as he loved the little people left in his care, the multitude of snot coated marbles he was now charged with disposing of weren’t his preferred part of the job. He had just set himself back into a rhythm when he felt a tug on his pants. “No, Etho, you still have to wait for the horse.” Jimmy said, not bothering to look down at the boy. “Mr. Timmy?” Oh. Not Etho. The little girl beside him stared up at him with beady eyes filled with confusion and concern. If Lizzie was upset, then something was very wrong.
He quickly looked around for any signs of disturbance. He couldn’t see anything overly concerning from his angle, but there was a spot in the daycare's reading nook that he couldn't see from his desk. He asked, just to make sure. “ What is it, Lizzie?” Then came the moment when Jimmy watched his job flash before his eyes. “ What? ” He asked again, praying that she had just made a mistake. “Grian made Scar pretty with scissors,” she repeated. Jimmy went pale.
He told Bdubs to wait where he was, ensuring to move the extracted marbles out of reach before sprinting to check behind the bookcase and pillows. He gasped. Chunks of blonde and brown hair were strewn across the floor. Grian sat in the middle of the small pile with a nasty, knowing grin on his face. “Look Mr. Timmy! We match!” He pointed excitedly at his friends who all sat around him in various states of glee and regret. “Yes, don’t you all look nice,” Jimmy winced. He saw Joel sitting nearby holding a couple of locks in his fists with an increasingly guilty and fearful expression on his face as he realized he couldn't just reattach the clumps by magic.
The good news was that Grian hadn’t cut down to the root on any of his ‘clients’ so none of it was too noticeable, but they all looked a bit shaggier now than before. Jimmy knelt down in front of Grian and extended his hand. “Can I have those, please?” Grian looked hesitant, knowing he’d been caught. He clearly didn’t want to get in trouble again, as he was already familiar enough with the timeout corner. Just when he looked like he might concede, Scar leaned over to whisper something in his ear. “Promise not to put me in the corner again,” Grian smiled smugly.
Jimmy sighed exasperatedly. “Grian, I told you not to play with scissors! I can give you three minutes instead of five, but that’s it.” Grian looked over at Scar, who shook his head. Grian reached up and snipped off more of his own hair before Jimmy could snatch the craft scissors away from him. “Gah! Okay, fine! But you’ve got to stay with me, okay?” Scar nodded and Grian finally passed him the scissors before they could cause any more harm. Bdubs sneezed, and Jimmy’s head dropped into his hands when he heard a couple of beads hit the tile flooring. “Alright, all of you, come with me until Mx. Cleo gets back.” Jimmy maneuvered through the crowd of curious children back to his desk where he continued his excavation, clearing the three troublemakers some space beside Bdubs when they’d asked to sit with him.
Grian found the cup of elastics and paperclips he kept nearby and took a couple of rubber bands out. Jimmy tried not to worry too much about it. He felt a tug on his hair, and feared that he was about to become another one of Grian’s clients before he realized what he was actually trying to do. Grian’s face was screwed in concentration while he twisted and looped the elastic around the clump of his hair, leaving a stubby, lopsided ponytail on the side of his head. Jimmy laughed, but didn’t stop him. He found it cute, and if it would distract him, well that was just a bonus.
Eventually, he managed to clear Bdubs’ nose. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for his accomplishment. Bdubs hugged him, reverting back to his previous giggling self. The growing group of excited aspiring hairdressers guided Jimmy down to the carpet. Grian had fistfulls of elastics and started passing them around to his friends until the entire class had assembled around Jimmy to tie up his hair while he read them their favorite picture books. Cleo re-entered the daycare a few minutes later, laughing as they took in his situation, quickly taking a picture they’d torment him with later.
Apparently, she had her lunch break scheduled at a different time and forgot to mention it. Not that it mattered anymore. They shook their head disappointedly when they heard what had happened, but she didn’t seem too surprised. She went over to sweep up the mess and reorganized the shelves to make sure they didn’t conceal any future incidents while Jimmy entertained the kids, who were now using the multitude of clips and barrettes that Lizzie provided them from her own hairdo to decorate their creation. Jimmy took another photo of them all together at their insistence after they had finished tying up every stray blonde strand. He leaned back on the floor, taking full advantage of his long arms to capture all their beaming faces in the picture.
They immediately demanded to see the results, clamoring to snatch his phone from his hands. He relented, laughing as they all fell into fits of giggles and made poor attempts at teasing him. The rest of the day was peaceful, filled mostly with the usual petty fights you expect from people their age and more hair styling. They all whined when Jimmy took out the glittery pins so he could return them to Lizzie who accepted them with a soft smile and a giggle. He was glad to be home again once the parents had come to pick up their kids. Surprisingly, none of them were too upset. They had expected it to happen at some point so they dismissed it with a chuckle and left. Jimmy cleaned up his apartment, and made himself his hard earned cup of coffee. He kept looking down and chuckling at his new lock screen as he drank. It only got funnier every time he looked at it.
God, he loved his job.