| My First Bad Experience in School |
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| COT ROOM MEMORY Cot room was what we called naptime after lunch. It was a room full of cots. Teachers took turns watching us in the cot room. We had one hour of naptime. I always took a cot next to Janie. We could not talk or whisper in there. If we did we would get in trouble or we would be moved to another cot. I was around 7 years old when I had my bad experience in there. As I did not speak to any of the teachers, I was always tested by them. This day we had a teacher who was very strict. She scared me and I was always glad when we did not have her to watch cot room. But this day she was. No one would dare talk when she was in charge. As I lay there in the cot, I needed to go to the bathroom. I did not know what to do, since we could not just get up and go. I told Janie who was next to me. She raised her hand and told this teacher that I needed to go. The teacher responded that if I needed to go, I would have to ask her myself. I lay there knowing that this did not look good. I told Janie that I could not wait but I was not going to talk to the teacher. I was ashame to talk to anyone, especially teachers. So I just lay there and tried to hold back my tears. Although I did not cry, I could not hold back my bladder any longer, so I just went. Janie did not know what to do so she just told the teacher that I had wet myself. I was embarrassed as I lay there in a wet cot. The teacher called the aides who came to take me to the bathroom which was right there in the room only a few feet from where I layed. The teacher asked me why I had not told her that I had to go. I did not answer and I know Janie was upset that she had not let me go. She was never afraid to speak up. But there was nothing she could have done. The aides took off all my clothes and put on me a huge T-shirt that they had found. We did not have any change of clothes so what we wore was it. They had to go wash and dry the clothes which took the rest of the day. So I spent 3 hours alone in the bathroom with nothing to do. I will never understand how we were left alone sometimes. The aids finally came back and I was able to put on my clothes and go back to my room. Walking in the room was not easy since everyone knew what had happened. I just wanted to hide. Janie told me how upset she was that it happened but she also told me that the teacher would probably listen to her next time. I laughed a little and felt that maybe that was true. The other teachers gave me premission to get up and go without asking if I need to go to the bathroom. I don't recall it ever happening again! |
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