worst fire drill ever

Every month our school is required by our district to hold a fire drill. As most schools do, we typically wait for the warmest day of the last week of the month and have the drill at 2:10. So if we are really concerned about the unannounced drill we should be able to predict exactly when it will occur. Unfortunately we usually forget about it until the alarm startles us at which time we realize how stupid it was for it to take us by surprise since it is a beautiful day.
Today the kindergarten classes were having a Thanksgiving Switch-Day. They mixed up all the kids into 6 groups and sent them from class to class for fun Thanksgiving activities. So nobody has their own kids and no official class was together. Kids from every class were with each group. My group made butter.

We’re up to our elbows in bread and homemade butter when the alarm went goes off. And at that point we all realize just how stupid we are for not expecting this. It was 2:10. On a warm day at the end of the month. Damn. We have no idea who the kids in front of us are, nor do we know how many, who they belonged to, or if they have any idea how to exit the building from the classroom we are in.

Somehow we lead them outside at which point they see their friends from their class. (THEIR CLASS… the class they were with maybe 40 minutes earlier). “HEY!!! WILLY!!! They scream their friends names as they SPRINT down the hill. We don’t know their names to yell at them so we find ourselves chasing them down the hill yelling, “STOP! QUIET! LINE UP!” at no one in particular. We line them up and then try to keep them quiet while we wait for the all-clear. This goes poorly as they are still waving to their friends, spinning in circles, and saying, “HEY! Look over there! That’s my house!” At which point I start to wonder if anyone ran home without us noticing.

We entered the school and I briefly considered giving them my Miss Viola-Swamp Fire Drill Lecture of DEATH but realized it really wasn’t really their fault. So I let them enjoy their bread and butter and made a mental note to never be surprised by an end-of-month fire drill again.