Anal Tables

Yesterday was a parent workday at Miss M's school. Her school is a small, public Montessori school that serves 3-years-old through 3rd grade. On the last workday of the year, they take every table from the Primary classrooms (ages 3-6) and sand the tops and repaint them for the next year. I painted tables for 2 hours. I love painting these tables.

Most people with a cursory understanding of Montessori think it's a groovy free-for-all where the kids hang out and do as they please. In reality, it is an incredibly structured environment. Case in point are these tables. They are color coded by height. The blue tables are the shortest for the tiny 3-year-old kids, then the pinks are a few inches taller, with the green being the tallest. The tables fit kids of varying heights and the color coding is just a layer of anal attention to detail that I find to dominate in the "prepared environment" of the Montessori classroom. I love these cute tables even more than the children who sit at them. I'll be a basket case when Miss M "graduates" from 3rd grade next year and I will be forever separated from these tables. Perhaps they'll hold her back.

(can't wait to see if anyone googles "anal tables" and ends up here)