Makes You Want To (Ice) Scream

(I’m supervising kids on the school’s small playground. Nearby, two boys conclude a game as one is being picked up by a parent. Right away, the remaining boy begins circling the playground, loudly calling out in a sing-sing voice.)

Child: “Who wants… to play… with me? Who wants… to play… with me?”

(I find it unusual that he’s advertising for a playmate like this, but he isn’t harming anyone, so I let it go. However, after he repeats it nonstop 20 or 30 times in the same bored voice and sing-song cadence, the sound starts to wear me down. I realize that he isn’t looking for a friend, but bored and filling the space with a repeated noise, as kids will sometimes do. I also notice that the other kids are eyeing him, also tired of his chanting. Either I need to say something to him or they will, and I doubt they’ll be diplomatic.)

Me: “[Child], could you pick an activity to do? There are lots to choose from.”

(He turns and immediately finds someone to play with. They disappear into a playhouse, and I can see through the little windows that they’ll probably set up a pretend shop inside. I’m relieved that this situation resolved quickly, and that the chanting is over. The child appears in the window of the playhouse and I hear the same bored voice and sing-song cadence.)

Child: “Who wants… some… ice cream?”

(Sigh.)