Swamped By Little Kiddies Who Don't Want To Learn About Chess

*Hisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss*

That's the sound of my sanity leaking out.

Wow yesterday I went to do CIP with four other people. At a YMCA childcare centre. For P1 - P5 kids. To teach them how to play International Chess.

Waaaa scary man! Entering the place submerged us in a deluge of > thirty simultaneous yells, screams and chatter. It was very intimidating at first. You look at little kids who are engrossed in pinching each other and wonder (OMGOMGOMG) how on earth you're going to get them to sit still long enough to listen.

Then I was struggling not to snigger as the childcare centre aunties were telling the children: "Okay, these are the jiejies and korkors who are going to teach you how to play chess." Chess? More like hide-and-seek?

It was like one person to seven or more kids. I don't know why, maybe it was because I was carrying around a borrowed chess book in case I needed it, but some of the little kids came up to me and told me to teach their table. O.O First impressions eh.

Then later I was trying to explain the basic rules and I realised they already knew some stuff, so I just mentioned the bare essentials and let them answer questions. I gave up trying to explain anything else after a while because LITTLE KIDS CANNOT SIT STILL. (Though I tried to drag the explanation as far as I could since a childcare centre auntie planted herself at the table and I didn't want to look like I wasn't going to teach anything hurhur.)

So I just let them play chess with each other and some wanted to play chess with me. Thank goodness I didn't lose any game lol. I tried to tell them their mistakes too.

There was one time where one of the aunties told this little boy sitting around to go somewhere because she wanted to talk to him. I assume she wanted to scold him for something. In typical infuriating kid manner, he kept saying "Why". "Can you please come here for a second? I want to talk to you." "Why?" "Please come here. I want to tell you something." "Cannot tell me here meh?""Come here now." "Why?" "I'm going to get angry if you don't come here now." "Why?"

I tell you, by the time they had their nap-time, I needed my nap-time too. I don't know why those aunties haven't ended up in IMH already.

One auntie gave us fried beehoon for our break. Then we got a plastic jugful of this tapwater-temperature neon yellow liquid that tasted slightly lemony. At first we thought it was diluted orange-squash. Then we concluded it was Mama Lemon solution. But after two of the kids ran over and yelled: "They're drinking urine!" in obvious delight, we hoped it was Mama Lemon. Hohoho.

After they had their nap-time and tea-break, it was playtime. So we set up four chess boards and let them play against each other. Some wanted to challenge us so we let them. We played carrom with them too. Then there were a couple of naughty ones who started jabbing us in the sides, yelling: "I give you EFFECT!"

Mm I deflected further attacks by not responding and set them on a friend. Haha. Then they were jabbing him like once every minute. With friends like me... Eheheheh. Well later I played chinese chess with them too and lost one game.

At the end of the five hours, they were threatening to skin me alive if I didn't come back the next day, and there was one kid who demanded a rematch with me the next time. I'm only going back for the second of four sessions next Monday though.

Well, they're not so bad after all. Maybe I'll bring my camera some time if I figure out how to make it child-proof.