Grateful Friday

Some weeks the best thing I have to be grateful about is that it is Friday.  It has been a long week--exacerbated by the distributive property.  They. Don't. Get. It.

One of them wondered, "Why do we even have to learn this anyway?!?"

At this point, I have no idea.

I'm also grateful that I don't have recess duty today.  I have recess duty on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They are learning basketball in PE and so all the kids want to play basketball at recess.  So far in PE they apparently haven't covered that basketball isn't a contact sport.

I physically separated fist fights, I gathered kids up off the pavement, I slapped on bandaids, I put my arm around a boy who had been elbowed in the stomach (hard and on purpose) until he got his breath back.  It was a wild ride..because there are also soccer fights happening.  There are always soccer fights.  Then the soccer ball got kicked into the parking lot and it was wedged under a car.  I recruited a boy who is wiry and athletic and he owed me because he had been the instigator of a lot of soccer fights.  I walked him over to the car and had him climb underneath and kick the ball out from under the car.

Then I had to gather up a boy from another third grade who has special needs.  He won't go in despite recess being over.  (He hates the sound of my whistle so my strategy is to tell him I'm about to blow my whistle and he runs to his teacher.)

When I finally made it into my room, my class was already inside, waiting for me.  A few boys were tossing their water balls into the air and not catching them (because they're 8 and not that coordinated).

I said, "I will take those bottles away.  You can survive a day without water.  If you want to keep the bottles, STOP THROWING THEM."

Everyone looked around like who is this mean lady?

Then one of my students needed three bandaids on her legs because she had fallen and scraped them (while playing basketball). 

I took my kids to PE.  There was a young male substitute teacher there who my students love.  He was holding a basketball and I thought it was a perfect opportunity for him to tell them not to kill each other while they are playing basketball at recess.  I thought they like him so much, they will listen.  I explained the situation to him and I asked him if he could talk to them during class about not being so...aggressive (we'll put it mildly).

He looked nervous, like I was accusing him of something.  He said, "We're only dribbling.  That's all we're doing."

"Never mind," I said.

It's Friday.  And I'm grateful.

The state of things

 Things that aren't going well:

1. The distributive property.  They don't get it.  Tomorrow will start day 3.  I have a new plan of attack.  Hope springs eternal.

2. Also, the writing of imaginative narratives.  The misspelled words, wonky grammar and punctuation is all very fixable and expected.  But the stories don't make sense.  They either are not stories or they are super confusing.  This is after weeks of prewriting (coming up with characters and settings) and graphic organizers (problem! solution! beginning! middle! end!).  One thing that (maybe?) made me feel a little better is that when they tell me stories they don't always make sense either.  Maybe the writing isn't the problem.  Maybe it's the age.

Taking pictures of Adam's throat (foreshadowing...see below).

Things that are going well:

1. Mark's powers of persuasion. He texted us a persuasive essay about why we should go to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner.  He didn't have pizza with us on Monday, it was on his way to work, etc. etc.  It worked.  Mark and I had dinner there.  (Adam was still at work + not feeling well and said he didn't want dinner anyway--more foreshadowing.)

2. Telemedicine.  Adam called in on his computer and the nice man was very patient as I tried and failed over and over to get a picture of his throat.  Adam's new phone has the flash controls in a different place than I was used to.  Also, I'm not what anyone would call a good photographer.  I did have a big popsicle stick in my bag because I use them for my job chart at school.  So that was the tongue depressor.  The diagnosis was strep throat.

Adam was thrilled that it only cost $5.  That man loves a bargain.  We drove together to pick up the prescription and it was also $5 (and 3 cents).  

I told Adam he was a cheap date.

Inside recess

 It was just starting to snow when I left for school.  I didn't think it would amount to much but then it kept snowing more and more.

My students were excited and kept wanting to look at the weather app on my phone to see how long the snow would last.  They are growing up in a different world with different sources of information than I did!

Peering out the window, one boy said, "It is almost pitch white out there!"

Braeden texted this:

I didn't have to say anything because Emma covered it for me....

Shortly before recess time, the principal announced that it was up to the teachers whether we had inside or outside recess.  

I didn't want to deal with wet shoes and socks and cold hands and all of that.  They mostly do not dress for cold weather very effectively.  I have a drawer of gloves I hand out and then collect so we'll have them another day.

More importantly though, I had recess duty.

I decided we would have inside recess.

It was the first time we've had inside recess and they wanted to know what to do.  I gave them all the options:  computers, drawing, reading, games.  A few boys played on the computers, one girl wanted to work on multiplication (I said sure!), some boys played Battleship, there was a raucous Uno game happening and four kids set up Jenga under my desk.  They love to crawl under my desk (which is really a kidney shaped table) and I'm always worried I'm going to accidentally kick them.  

It felt chaotic but also cozy. Sometimes inside recess is the worst because they need to run but this is such a mellow group that they do OK without a run.

It had stopped snowing so lunch recess was outside.  I had a line of wet gloves drying, everyone complained about cold wet feet and two students had slipped and fallen and their pants were wet.

Inside recess is not terrible.

Quilt binding

 One upside of us all having had Covid is that we feel less worried being around my parents.  They were in Utah for doctor appointments and they stopped by last night to help me with the binding on Braeden and Anna's quilt.  

My mom said, "How are you with cutting now?"

I said, "Really bad."

She said OK and handed my dad her other pair of scissors.

When I was growing up and my mom was (trying to) teach me to sew, it would annoy Marianne that she would cut out the pattern and fabric for me but not Marianne.  But I'm really really bad at cutting a straight line.  I am better than I used to be, but not much.

So I "supervised" and they trimmed the edges, then my mom showed me how to fold it.  She showed me how to fold the corners and said, "Were you watching?"

I said, "No."

Why does being around your parents make you revert to being about 13 years old?

She showed me again but every time I got to a corner, I let her do it.

We pinned it and my mom even kindly pinned "backwards" so that when I do the hand sewing around it with my left hand, I won't encounter the sharp ends of the pins.

We ate pizza and visited for awhile.  It was a nice evening.  We need Covid to go away so we can have less social distancing and more visiting.

Weekend

It was a weekend of it's-about-time snow.  It looked pretty and I was grateful for it.

It was a weekend of me feeling sort of blah.  I had the vaccination which was nothing except a sore arm until I felt sort of lousy.  That was compounded by me having a flare up of my eye infection because for reasons beyond my understanding I forgot to take my medicine several days last week.   

I don't know.

It was a weekend of stake conference.  I loved watching it from home in my comfortable chair.  I see no reason why we can't do that forever going forward.  

It was a weekend of Mark reading.  He stays up until the wee hours because he says his mom didn't raise a quitter.

I (finally) raised a reader.

It was a weekend of just Emma for Sunday dinner.  We talked and laughed and played the bean game the Jorgensens gave us for Christmas.  I can't remember the real name of it.  

Since she had a flat tire, Adam and Mark changed it for her.  I told her I wanted her to remember if she ever felt slighted as a girl that her dad and brother were changing her tire for her in the cold.  

She said, "I know."

(Because I think chivalry should be appreciated and acknowledged.)

Adam had to go to an ordination and Mark was reading so she and I perused Netflix and had more fun reading the descriptions than actually watching anything.

Have a daughter who cracks wise with you over Netflix descriptions.  That's the secret to happiness.  (Also stake conference from a comfortable chair.)

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for audiobooks.  I just finished Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane.  It was good.  I listen while I drive.  I listen while I clean the kitchen and do laundry.  I would prefer to cozy up with a paper book in hands, but I love being able to read anyway.

I'm grateful that I am getting vaccinated for Covid tomorrow.  My three month immunity is up and teachers are up next for vaccinations.  I'm grateful for the smart people that made the vaccination a reality.

I'm grateful for the entertaining internet and my entertaining children.  Our family group text has been chock full of pictures of Bernie Sanders at the inauguration.  Here are some of my favorites:

Braeden sent this.  It's the first slide in a presentation he is doing for a class he TAs.

As long as I'm in the family texting group, I'll be happy. 

Peaceful transfer

 I missed the inauguration because it was during writing and if you think I can watch an inauguration while trying to coax words out of third graders, I can't.  Sometimes it feels like I have to use the jaws of life to extricate those words.

I did get analysis (and pictures) from my family though.  Braeden commented on the speech, Emma on the music and Adam pointed out that Chief Justice Roberts has now sworn in two presidents who voted against him.  Mark had opinions on everything and shared them over bowls of soup last night before he went to work.  He is, after all, 18 and knows everything.

Here's what struck me (I caught myself up a little when I got home).

I loved the poet.  Everything from her coat to her delivery style to her words.  I love words.  Also, poets make life richer.

I loved the former presidents (well, except one...) sitting behind the new president.  To me they were a message of we've got your back to the president as well as a reminder of how power transfers peacefully in our country.  I love the idea that despite all our differing opinions and ideologies and priorities, democracy means we get along anyway.

(Sometimes getting along means keeping your opinions to yourself and I'm OK with that.)

What struck me the very most was the moment of silence for those whose lives were lost to COVID.  I wonder if by now everyone knows at least someone who has died from it.  

The new administration has their work cut out for them and I wish them all the best. 

Feeling sentimental

 Last night Mark crawled in bed between Adam and me and I buried my fingers into his thick hair (which needs to be cut again) and rubbed his slender neck and marveled that he's grown.  Next January, wherever he will be, it won't be lying in bed between us, listening to Adam tell him about the latest Supreme Court cases.

In cleaning up my office, I stapled some pictures onto the bulletin boards I have in there.  The bulletin boards used to hang above each of my homeschooled students desks which feels like a lifetime ago and also just yesterday.

Weird light and shadows from taking a picture of pictures on the wall.  Still.  My babies.  I remember them like that and I always will.  

Holiday

 We went to my classroom and did a few things.  Then Mark peeled off from the group to go have lunch with his friends.  Adam and I shared a pizza and a salad at MOD and went to Home Depot in search of storage containers for his office closet.  

We didn't find what we were looking for so we decided to go to IKEA for something I wanted for my classroom.  

I knew that Adam wanted this certain brand of containers though and I knew that was the only kind he wanted.  I also knew they were at the Container Store.  I said, "Let's go there."

The freeway was wide open, the sun was shining, it would only take a few minutes.

(Narrator:  it would take more than a few minutes.)

There was a huge accident on the freeway.  As in six lanes went down to one and about ten emergency vehicles passed us to get there.  We listened to a podcast and kept turning it off to talk to each other and then turning it back on.  

We finally made it to the store and Adam got what he wanted.  While he knows what he wants (down to the brand and size of storage bin), I'm always more of an I can make that work sort of person.  So I found some containers that would work for my classroom too.

We went home and both puttered half heartedly in our offices for awhile then he made a very early dinner so we could eat before Mark went to work.  

That left us with the whole long evening stretched before us.  We considered going to a movie but home felt nice too. 

We watched a PBS show we never seem to have time to watch.  We did a NYTimes crossword together.

Olivia and Edgar stopped by and I gave Olivia a piece of Braeden's cake.  Chocolate with mint frosting.  It's what they both want for their birthdays and since their birthdays are days apart, this is the second time I've been able to give Olivia a piece of multipurpose birthday cake.

Then we decided to watch Brooklyn Nine Nine.  How did we have so much time?  We never have this much time.  We were going to call it quits but then the next episode had Doug Judy in it so we had to watch.

After, Adam said, "We're going to need to get some hobbies."

A night of TV had felt decadent and luxurious.  And maybe someday we will need to get some hobbies but today I have work and so does he.  We'll have a later dinner because of it and then Adam has church meetings and I'll fold laundry while he's gone.   Someday we may need to think of more to do but for now, we can just remember that one rare night when it was just us watching TV without a care.

Long weekend

I heard some tragic news yesterday that I can't stop thinking about.  Life can be hard.  That is all.

I'm grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  It bolsters my courage for the times when life is hard.  I know that God lives and that He has a plan.  I loved what Elder Uchtdorf said in the recent General Conference about Covid 19.  I

There are still a lot of unknowns about this virus. But if there is one thing I do know, it is that this virus did not catch Heavenly Father by surprise. He did not have to muster additional battalions of angels, call emergency meetings, or divert resources from the world-creation division to handle an unexpected need.

I am grateful for that perspective.  God is at the helm and we are here to learn lessons.  One of those lessons is to rely on our faith.

We have also had a good weekend--it is still happening.  On Saturday I had "a clear out" in my office as Jean Pargetter would say.  (From As Time Goes By...one of my favorite British television shows.)  I'm not even halfway done because I want to go through every single thing.  It needs it.  We took Mark to Red Lobster for lunch just because we thought he'd like it.  When you're the youngest....

He did.  He got something called the admiral plate and said he wanted us to call him admiral for the rest of the day.  Even being youngest has his limits though.

He went to work and Adam and I did our errands.

Sunday it was our week (except Adam) to stay home and watch church.  I love those weeks.  Watching church in a comfy chair while wearing jeans is not a bad gig.  I did some family history and talked to Marie Louise on the phone.  That is always an immediate feel good boost to my life.  Besides family history talk, we caught up on life.  Her youngest is Emma's age so I talked to her about my impending empty nest.  She told me it was not terrible, kind of like a date all the time.  I can see that and it seems like it will be wonderful to be with Adam, Adam and more Adam.

Since we've all had Covid now, we decided to open up our doors to Desi and Hyrum.  Hyrum ended up having a meeting but we were delighted to have Desi.  We celebrated Braeden's birthday belatedly.  I made him a cake and we lit candles and sang to him and I took a picture and now I don't have it on my camera roll.

I did find this picture though which I took to brag to my family about my kids' math test they took Friday.

I gave a sticker to every single one of them because they all did SO well.  It was exciting.  Maybe every bit as exciting as a 24 year old blowing out his candles.

Grateful Friday

Things I'm grateful about:

I assessed some of the phonics skills we've been working on in literacy and they're getting it.  It is such an uphill battle but with most of the kids, we're gaining ground.

I came home from school and told Mark I'd felt dumb all day in the pants I was wearing.  He stood back and surveyed me and said, "You look fine."

Granted, he was wearing the same Seahawks pajamas pants and Seahawks sweatshirt he'd been wearing all week, but I'll take his fashion validation.

He gets to go back to school today. (RIP Seahawks pajamas.  Now he'll wear sweatpants.  All he wants is comfort.)

I love getting funny/newsie texts from Emma.  And I love listening to her music on repeat.

I texted Adam last night to see if he'd stop at the store on his way home for some ways to augment my dinner plan and he'd already stopped at the store and done just that.  He's a keeper.

It's Friday!

Headache day

Yesterday was a migraine day.  Before the bell rang, two students reminded me that we hadn't done the pledge yet.

"We will," I said.  At the moment it was clear it was going to be a very long day.

Guess who aren't quiet?  3rd graders.  I asked them to stop yelling.  I asked them to stop incessantly tapping their pens.  I confiscated a clicker from a student.  A clicker?!?  He asked if he could have it back after writing.  I said, "You can have it back after school."

I didn't bite anyone's head off but my tone was a little grouchy sometimes.  I knew it but I struggled to stop being grouchy.

At one point I apologized for being cranky.  I said, "I have a bad headache.  I'm sorry I'm cranky.  Please stop yelling."

They didn't.  I don't think they yell on purpose.  They're just...excited.  And loud.

Two girls told me they also suddenly had headaches.

Then they noticed I had a bandaid on my thumb because my skin has split, like it does every winter, and the liquid bandaid stuff isn't fixing it.

That, they were concerned about.  All day it was "Teacher, what happened to your thumb?"  "Why do you have a bandaid?"  "What happened?"  "Teacher, are you hurt?"

Next time I'm going to put a big bandaid on my head.

I came home and Mark took one look at me and sent me to bed.  He had made dinner.  If you ask me, having a son in quarantine start the soup in the crockpot at noon is not a bad thing.  (He had a little drama trying to locate the chicken in the freezer but he persevered.)  I went and slept for an hour and felt mildly more human.  I had a little pile of Advil by my bowl at dinner and I tried to fill up my cup that was already full.

Adam said, "Maybe you should go to bed."

Later Emma stopped by because she had forgotten some things.  She told us all about her classes and it made me happy to see her so happy.  She told me she did the RB stairs with two breaks.  She helped me fold the laundry.

I have a 100% survival rate for headache days.  Sometimes it feels like the day will be an exception, but I always make it in the end.

Just another recess

After lunch recess, the tattlers were in fine form.  They were excited to tell me in horrified tones that a boy had said, "the f word."

The accused is a sweet and pretty easy going boy and that seemed out of character, but nevertheless needed to be addressed.

I called him over to my desk.  His friend, an earnest and conscientious boy I trust implicitly, quickly intervened.

"Teacher," he said, eyes worried. "He did say the f word, but he said..." he dropped his voice to a stage whisper, "f-r-i-c-k."

"OK," I said.

I still talked to the accused.  I said, "A few students told me you said the f word.  I know you didn't say the really bad f word, but maybe you shouldn't say anything that sounds like it either so no one thinks you're saying a bad word."

He didn't have his mask on yet, having just walked in from recess and he has the best smile and he got a huge grin on his face (one thing Covid has robbed me of is seeing their smiles all day).  He dismissed my advice about word choice because he was too excited to tell me about recess.

"OK, OK," he said, barely able to contain his glee.  "But Teacher, have you ever wanted to know what it would feel like to get hit by a swing?"

I said, "Oh no, stay out of the way of kids swinging, you could get hurt."

He said, "But I always wanted to know what it would feel like.  I was chasing someone and I ran close to the swings and I got knocked over.  It was awesome!"

I restated my plea to stay away from the swings because he could get hurt but I could tell he was completely unconvinced.

I guess the next stop for that kid is the X Games.

Emma Jayne

 Yesterday Emma texted that her EP was on Amazon music and Apple music.  I took a screenshot:

She wrote the first song her sophomore year of college.  She wrote Ghost Girl while she was quarantined the first time and was going a little stir crazy.  It is all her voice and guitar but that song was produced by her friend.  He did the other instruments.  He asked her if he could produce one of her songs for his music production class.

As I Wander Père Lachaise was written in a cemetery she loved to walk through in Paris.  She wrote Darling last week. The album art is a photo she took at the cemetery.

That's my girl.  She just writes songs.

She also texted this:

I wonder if her professor thought she spent more time on her doodles than her notes....Also, she wrote some sort of quip but since it's a play on French words, I don't get it.

I knew when Emma was a little girl and I could never find the stapler, tape, scissors or hole punch because they were always in her room, that that girl was going to lead a creative life.

Our Covid coven

Adam, Emma and Mark have all tested positive and are in various stages of sickness/recovery.  Luckily no one has been too sick.

When people in our ward found out, everyone had one question, "How's Mark?"  Everyone has heard that diabetes is a risk factor.  Early in the pandemic, I was (you can't even imagine how much) grateful our doctor told us that that mostly meant people with Type 2 diabetes.  As long as Mark's otherwise healthy, he's is at no greater risk for serious illness than anyone.

I'm still grateful our friends care about Mark.  When someone cares about one of your children, it matters.

Adam is soldiering on like he does, still working and doing his church calling from afar.  My goal in life is to try to get him to rest.  I have my work cut out for me.  Braeden (who we are pretty sure had it even though he tested negative when he finally had a test--he got sick and recovered and then Anna tested positive) came over Saturday to give his dad a priesthood blessing.  

side note:  Today's Braeden's birthday!  He's 24 and past the age of having his birthday revolve around me. 24.  It's pretty amazing how the time passed right by.  I'm proud of that kid and happy with pretty much every part of his life.  The only exception I can really think of is that I wish he had a warmer coat but he promised me it is warm enough and I backed off which is my role now.  (I'm still working on the backing off stage of motherhood....)

Emma is super tired and was super happy to sequester herself in her room.  She's always loved that bubble.  Her quarantine ends in time for classes at BYU to start back up and she's not looking forward to the RB stairs which she has to climb every day to get to campus.  If you aren't familiar with BYU campus, that means nothing to you but if you are familiar, you understand. The RB stairs...not for wimps.

Mark seems to be the least afflicted.  He was sick a few days but he's rebounding pretty well and on a reading bender.  His whole life I've tried to make a reader out of him.  My efforts have largely failed.  He hardly ever chooses reading as a leisure activity.  About once a year, he decides to read and he goes all the way in.  He loves his creature comforts and he made a comfortable nest on the couch with pillows and blankets and jazz music playing.  He said he can read better when it isn't silent.  Saturday he read three books and Sunday a few more. Over the two days he read over 1400 pages. 

He asked me to order three books which I promptly did.

Emma said, "That only works for you, Mark."

He said, "Maybe if you want some books have me ask Mom and she'll order them."

I said, "I heard that and I'm onto you."

But, when Mark wants a book, I'll buy it.  It just makes me that happy if he wants to read.  I don't know why it matters so much to me but it does.

I remember the way Adam took care of me (and all the things) when I had Covid so I'm trying to do the same.  I have to remind Adam to let me.  

Grateful Friday

It's been a struggling sort of week.

Illness both at school and at home.  Tired and grumpy everywhere too. (Me.)

Also I have felt discouraged about our country.  

I'm so tired of the word unprecedented.  

This morning I was reading the Ensign, like I do, and I read President Oaks' talk from the October Women's Broadcast.  It was so good and so encouraging.  Also, it was full of scriptures I love.  I realized that he kept quoting from the Doctrine and Covenants.  I'm happy we get to study the Doctrine and Covenants this year.  Perhaps it is exactly what we need, just like President Oaks' talk was exactly what I needed.

I'm grateful.

Weary

What a day yesterday was.

For as long as I can remember I have heard about calamities in the last days.  I'm guessing rioters storming the Capitol qualifies. The expected peaceful transfer of power isn't the given it's been my whole life.

Also, another family member tested positive for Covid.  So everyone (except me--I'm still in my window of immunity) has to quarantine and be tested.  I'm tired of it.  I know, I know.  Everyone is.

All is not terrible though.  For example, Emma is in process of getting a short album (she called it an EP) on Spotify and Apple music.  She even designed cover art.  As long as Emma is creating, I know there will be beauty in the world.

I'm also so grateful for the police and the defenders.  I'm grateful for the people who stood up and said, "No.  We're not going to let thugs have the day.  Our Constitution is worth upholding."  Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse (and lots of others) for the win.

Here's hoping the playground bully will eventually take his ball and go home.

In the meantime, I have stuff to do.  My literacy students, even the ones who can't really read and for sure can't spell, can tell you the difference between their and there.  They know and I taught them.  And I have millions more things to teach them so I will carry on!

There's that.  

Oh boy

Yesterday shortly after school began, I had a girl tell me, "I don't feel so good."

She didn't look so good.  I sent her to the office to call her mom.  Her mom couldn't pick her up immediately so she came back to class.  I asked her what she wanted to do--try to do schoolwork, go lie down in the nurse's room, etc.  She said she didn't know.  Then she said she'd stay in class.

Then she lay her head on her desk.

She looked so miserable I took her down to the nurse's room.  I said, "Do you feel like you need to throw up?"

She said, "Yes."

I put a garbage can nearby and told her to remember to take her mask off is she needed to throw up.  I arranged her coat to be a sort of pillow and left her.  The secretaries in the next room would keep an eye on her.

My class was on task when I returned like the little angels they are.  I swear I have the best class in the school!

A little while later, a boy said, "Every time I talk I feel like I'm going to throw up."

I sent him to the office with a note to call home.

Another girl kept seeming to fall asleep.  Then she'd be fine.  She's super quiet anyway and would never complain.  At recess I said, "Are you feeling OK?"

She said no.

I said, "Do you feel like throwing up?"  She said no.  She said her head hurt.  I asked her if she wanted to call home.  She did. 

Besides that, I had two students already absent.

I gave every one of my (remaining) students a Clorox wipe.  I had them wipe down their desks and chairs.  Then I gave everyone another wipe and had them wipe down door handles, my desk, the stools by my desk where they sometimes sit, the computer cart, the faucet handles where they refill their water bottles.  This stuff gets cleaned pretty regularly anyway, but it felt like desperate times.

During P.E. I went to the office.  One secretary said, "Your class is dropping like flies!"

The other one said, "Give them all Tylenol and send them home!"

I was afraid it may come to that.

Another girl kept coming to me with ailments.  She has ailments regularly that I mostly ignore, but yesterday she would have gotten away with being sent home if they hadn't been so random.  Her hip hurt, her arm hurt, her leg hurt, she had a bump, she fell last week on the stairs.  She was hot.  (I told her to take off her coat.)  She said, "Oh.  OK."

Elementary schools:  not for the faint of heart.  

Good to be back

 This was on my whiteboard when I walked into my classroom.  Mark must have written it when we were boxing up the Christmas decorations.

He gave me this swanky new red stapler because he has witnessed my old stapler (not the one my dad repaired but my other, older one, attacking me...I started bleeding when Mark was there.  It was dramatic and yielded me a stapler for Christmas!)

I was happy to see my students.  They were more or less happy to see me.  Some of them were grumpy about school being back in session.

In my literacy group, I read them Boxes for Katje because I loved it so much.  They needed background information so I told them a little about World War II and how much of Europe was in ruin.  Katje is a little girl in Holland and a little girl, Rosie, sends her things from America. When there were things like soap and socks, we talked about why those were luxuries.

They were very solemn when I talked about how poor the people were.  I could tell they understood.

I would have my students predict what was in the boxes.   One boy guessed a PS5.  I said, "They hadn't been invented yet."

He said, "OK, a PS1?"

I said, "Not invented yet."

He said, "Are you kidding?  So Pac Man?"

I said, "Not invented yet."

He flat out did not believe me.  I guess he couldn't imagine a world without video games.

At the end of the story, Katje and her neighbors sent tulip bulbs to Rosie in America.  Everyone wondered why the Dutch hadn't just eaten the tulip bulbs because they looked like potatoes.

It was a rollicking ride like 3rd grade is.

During math, one of the (sort of grumpy) students wrote this on the back of her timed test.

She also asked during math, "Mind if I do a headstand to get my brain flowing?"

I said, "Yes, I mind.  Keep working."

After school I swung by the office to drop off some attendance cards.  The principal called me into his office.

He said, "I went up into the ceiling above your classroom during the break to see about moving your projector."

That is the kind of principal he is.  I'd mentioned I wished my projector was on the other side of the room so he climbed into the ceiling to see if he could make it happen.

I said, "What?  You're amazing."

He said, "Well, it will probably need to be a summer project."

And I am OK with that.  I'm in for the long haul and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ready to do battle

Yesterday I was working on family history and was having one problem after another.  I couldn't find anything out for sure and kept getting more and more confused.

Eventually I gave up and finished reading the Battle of the Books books.

Every year at my school there is a Battle of the Books (last year we were online before a champion team could be awarded which was tragic for many).  The students who enter the Battle of the Books are assigned a team and they commit to reading a portion of the books on the list.  The teams compete against each other, answering questions about the stories.  The champion team competes against a teacher team.  Last year I signed up to be on the teacher team but I was too slow and they already had a teacher team.  This year, they created several teacher teams and I made the cut!  

I already read The One and Only Ivan to my class.  I decided reading the Battle of the Books books to them would help more students access the list.  (Some of my students, pure and simple, can't read.)  I checked out a stack of books from the school library for during the break and thanks to the head-ache I encountered with family history, I got them all read.

There were three dog books and not one of them ended in a dead dog so that was something.

Lincoln and Kennedy by Gene Barretta

You never heard of Sandy Koufax? by Jonah Winter and Andie Carilho

Bobbie the Wonder Dog by Tricia Brown

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Tornado by Betsy Byars

Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

The Infamous Ratsos by Kara LaReau

Phineas L. MacGuire Erupts by Frances O'Roark Dowell

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

Mr. Popper Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary

I liked some of them way more than others.   My Father's Dragon was a Newbery honor book from the 40s and Mr. Popper's Penguins was a Newbery honor book from the 30s.  Children's literature from that time is mostly a little weird and those two were no exception. 

Most of the books were about children who for some reason didn't feel successful or who struggled in some way to make friends or get along with others.  It was a good reminder to me that each little person in my class is fighting their own little real or imagined battle.

I read the books to be ready to compete, but consuming so much children's literature made me feel ready to teach in some ways too.

My laptop is charged, my mask basket is full, my mittens are located for when I have recess duty. I have been reminded that they are first of all children. 

This morning my alarm went off way earlier than I've been getting up during Christmas break.  The house was cold and dark and I staggered around and told myself that I like my job.  I almost believed myself.  Then I flipped on the fireplace and took a (really) hot bath.  When I got warmer, I did believe myself.

I like my job.

Let's do this!

Grateful Friday

Hey, we finished quilting!

There are a few places I need to go over--Braeden, boy of many many talents is a novice at the tying of knots--and I need to sew the binding but it feels pretty amazing that we finished the quilting.  Many hands make light work!

Also:

Happy New Year!  

I like New Year's Day. I'm grateful for a blank calendar full of possibilities.

Adam gave me this for Christmas...it doesn't lie flat yet.  It is enormous and lovely and Emma and I have both breathed out threatenings to anyone who suggests we write on it.

I'm looking forward to vaccine.  More and more vaccine!  Vaccine for everyone soon! Please and thank you.

I'm looking forward to life getting closer to normal.  Will it?  I don't know.  

I'm looking forward to road trips and holidays and new books to read and movies to discover and being a teacher.  I'm looking forward to seeing my kids graduate.  (I'm trying to be positive here.  I'm actually not looking forward to this.  It will mean them moving further away.  Boo.  I am grateful to be able to witness their progression through life though. And Emma's plans for now are to move back home for a little while after she graduates.  I'll take it!)

I know 2020 was a tough year for a lot of people.  There were some really great parts of it too that I'm grateful for.  

I'm grateful for increased time with my family.

I'm grateful Adam and I could still do our jobs--although teaching online school is not super fun.

I'm grateful our kids were able to still progress in school and still have opportunities to make money.

I'm grateful for further confirmation that we have a living prophet on earth.  In the years leading up to 2020, there were small (and sometimes bigger) policy changes that made a pretty seamless transition to us being able to have meaningful church worship from our homes.

I'm grateful for another year I had to spend time with people I love.

Last night we read the little papers we had written randomly through the past few years.  It was lovely and I want to keep the gratitude jar going.

I love stopping to remember what a good life it is.