"Soft. No Squeezin"

Soft. No Squeezin’!
In my classroom the children have a nap time everyday. The children are not required to sleep but the majority of them do. This time can be hard for those children who don’t like to sleep or find it difficult to lay down or to even be quiet. Awhile back I had a little boy who hated nap time. Nap times were never easy with him but one particular day was a little more interesting than the others. Larry had decided that his nap time was over. He started talking really loudly and was walking around the classroom trying to wake up the other children. “Please go back to your mat Larry” I said. “No” he replied. “It’s nap time buddy and we can’t wake up our friends” I said as I walked towards him to help him make his way back to his mat. When he saw that I was coming towards him he began to run away. I caught him quickly and grabbed hold of his hand to take him back to his mat. “ Stop! I don’t like you! I don’t want to nap! I want all the kids to be awake”! He squealed. I plopped him down on his mat and sat down next to him. “Go away! I don’t care about you!” He yelled. I looked over at him and said, “I’m not going to go away, I’m going to sit right here while you have a little rest okay?” At that point Larry began to kick me in the leg. He would kick and then immediately ask, “Did that hurt”? When I didn’t respond he would kick me again and ask, “How about now? Did that hurt”? I looked at him and said, “It’s not nice to kick and I really wish you wouldn’t kick me anymore’. He pondered that statement a moment and then said “I don’t care about you”! I only looked at him and said, “I’m sure sorry about that, I care about you.” He lye there quiet for a moment and then snuggled close to me, “are you mad at me teacher?” he asked. “No, I’m not mad. I’m happy you stopped kicking” I replied. Larry snuggled even closer and gave me a hug. “I love you teacher” he said. I then noticed that his hand had began creeping up from my stomach towards my chest. I gently slid his hand away. He hugged me again and rested his hand on my stomach. Soon, his hand began creeping towards my chest again. I slid his hand back towards him and held it against his chest for a moment, when I let go he put it back on my stomach and started moving it up towards my chest. “No, bud you gotta keep your hands to yourself.” “Pleeeeeeaaaassseee teacher”! He whined and tried to reach for me again, “I just wanna hug you! Pleeeeaaassseee”. I held his hand against his own chest and answered, “you already gave me a hug, just rest”. He lay there quietly but soon his hand was creeping back towards me, “No Larry. Don’t.” I stated firmly. “Ah pleeeaassseee” he said sweetly “I’ll be soft. No squeezing”! I could only laugh and shake my head. It was so innocent and yet so hilarious. I held his hand in mine until he fell asleep.