Warning: Do not try to "shush" the class!

The students in one of my second grade classes were being loud in class, so I put my finger up to my lips and said "Shhh". Anyone who was still paying attention at that point started giggling. Then kids started mimicking me, their hands went up to their faces, one finger over their lips "SHHH" "SHHH" SHHH", the laughter got louder. I thought to myself- what is so funny? I just want you to be quiet!

Weeks later, I was doing a lesson for my third graders on transportation. My students love to sing, so I decided to teach them "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round", complete with hand gestures, since that seems to really get their attention. Everything was going well.... "the baby on the bus goes wah, wah wah, all through the town.  The people on the bus go shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh" suddenly half the students weren't singing anymore, but laughing. A couple boys were standing up, pushing their hips forward, and pretending to pee!

Going "shhh" seems like such a natural way to get kids, or anyone really (think someone talking during the movies "SHH!") to quiet down. However, this is not universal. In China, mothers toilet train their children by saying "shhhhhh".  Mothers say this when they want their children to go to the bathroom. So to my students, I wasn't saying "be quiet!", instead I was essentially saying "go pee!"

I privately tutor a fourth grade girl. Her mother just gave birth in January to a baby girl. This past Sunday I was asking her if the baby cries a lot. She basically said that the baby just eats, sleeps, and "shhhh" then giggled. So, I think Chinese mothers basically start this "shhh"thing pretty early, like immediately. Although diapers are sold in China, they are only really used in the winter months. When its not freezing outside, you will catch sight of many bare bums. I've posted earlier about my love of Chinese babies in split pants. To that end, let me share with you an update- I finally captured a picture of the elusive baby butt! This was taken in the Chongqing airport and is quite possibly one of my favorite vacation pictures.

After relating my story about boys pretending to pee in the middle of class to a friend, she told me that even grown boys think "shhh" is funny. She told me that one night when she was out to eat with some Chinese friends, they were sitting in a booth, and one guy on the inside had to go the bathroom, but the boys wouldn't let him out. Instead they all went "shhhh". I guess it's like talking about the gushing water at Niagara Falls when someone has to go, only a hundred times worse because people have been conditioned here since infancy that "shhh"means pee. I only wish I knew this earlier!