"Subiendo... y bajando"

"Subiendo... y bajando. Subiendo... y bajando."

"Up.... and down. Up... and down."

The little boy next to me gives me a brief smile, humming with me as I sing the instructions for tracing the capital "O" over and over and over. It's one brief moment of concentration in the middle of the on-going battle to make him sit for more than 30 seconds. "Subiendo... y bajando. ¡Casi! ¡Casi has terminado! ¿Una mas, para mi? Subiendo... y bajando."

But, pretty soon, the boys at the table nearby start fighting over playdough ("¡Esta robando mi plastilina profe!") and the moment ends. He looks up, distracted, and drops his crayon. Probably not on purpose, this time at least, but that means he needs to get up, get the crayon, and then settle back in again. Today, I am lucky, he actually comes back. Normally he goes straight to the closet, pretending to hide, or to the door, staring out at the larger kids at recess. Or, on a really bad day, over to the other boys to steal some of their blocks.

But today, today is a good day. Even though he will do nothing without me sitting next to him, today he wants my attention more than the distractions of toys and shouting kids. So we sit, blocking out the room, tracing dotted lines clumsily, singing, "Subiendo... y bajando. Subiendo... y bajando."