Grateful Friday

I am grateful for a smaller class.  I'll never complain about anything again for as long as I live.  (That's not true.)

But I am grateful!

It turns out the difference between 35 students and 23 students feels like I went on vacation.  It feels like wait, I can actually do this!

It feels like teaching instead of the old woman who lived in the shoe and had so many children she didn't know what to do.

And also you can walk in my classroom without tripping on children.  I brought back the rug!

While I was in a restructuring the classroom mood, I redid my library.  I had sort of redone it last weekend, but I wasn't happy with it.  I had all these mismatched bins and it looked like chaos and I'm SO DONE with chaos at school.

I decided to marshal the bins into rainbow order.  I didn't have any bins that were orange, but our reading books are orange so I roped them into service.

Jamie came in my room when I was in the middle of the mess.  I said, "The heart wants what the heart wants."

She said, "We are kindred spirits."

And it's true.  We both love Dansko shoes and IKEA, Trader Joe's and pretty things.  She fully supported my rainbow ambition.

***

Another thing to be grateful about is this.  Mark texted last night that his roommate (the one who also has diabetes) brought him this:

I want to tell that boy's parents that they did a good job raising a kind son.

***

Finally, I am grateful for General Conference weekend.  It is my absolute favorite weekend.  I am looking forward to listening to the good word of God.

Cared for

Yesterday Mark found out that he does indeed have celiac disease.  I talked to him during lunch.  I felt sad.

Mark texted the news to our family chat group and everyone immediately sent him back love and Braeden additionally texted me.

Then he asked if I wanted to talk and I said yes and we chatted for a few minutes.

Ever since he was a toddler that kid has been taking care of me.  He always has a sense about my mood and can always make me feel better.

Adam and Emma both texted me later that they had talked to Mark and that he seemed OK.  I think he just needed to process at first and then he regained his usual stoicism.

Even though we're scattered, I love feeling the warmth and safety net of family.

***

Yesterday after school ten teachers showed up in the third grade hall.  Everyone grabbed desks and moved them and asked, "How can I help?"

Everyone especially turned their attention to Miriam.  Everyone told her, "You've got this!" and "You're room looks so good!" and "Those kids are so lucky!"

Warm safety nets abound in the world.

One day more

Ever since school started, I have felt like I was in survival mode.   I was doing what had to be done that day.  And there was a lot.  With so much new curriculum and new training and you know...all the kids (Oh, have I mentioned my big class?  I don't really talk about it much....ha), there hasn't been time for the kind of regular administrative and physical maintenance that keeps things running smoothly and a classroom tidy.

It was starting to catch up with me in a big way.  For example, my desk looked more like a pile than a desk.  A haphazard pile that was either going to topple or self combust at any minute.

Yesterday I stayed at school for eleven hours to try to put things in order.

Emma brought me dinner.

I would have stayed longer except I had to go to Relief Society.

Today I'm going to stay late too.  For one thing, we are doing the big desk move after school.  We invited all the teachers at the school to the party.

I am SO ready for a smaller class.

Yesterday was picture day and when I took my group to the gym, the lady taking the pictures said, "So, this is two classes?"

"Just one," I said.

Her eyes widened.

I know, I wanted to tell her, I know.

A word about Relief Society.  I didn't really want to go because I wanted to either stay at school or go home and sleep.  I went though and I'm glad I did.

It was a craft night and I went around from table to table, chatting with my friends and making pretty things.

Sometimes you do something out of obligation and it ends up being exactly what you needed.

 

It was a whole Monday

A student has braces and a wire was poking him and bothering him.  I had him go call his mom.  She said he had an appointment on Thursday and to deal with it.  She obviously 1) has never had a braces wire poking her and 2) has never tried to get a third grader to work when he has a braces wire poking him.  

The student solved the problem though.  He yanked the wire out.  It was impressive. And a little alarming.

Another student didn't so much bring a water bottle as a plastic cup with an ill fitting lid.  She filled it up and promptly spilled it all over the floor.

Another student emptied the contents of his pocket onto the floor first thing in the morning.  It was full of potato chip crumbs.  

Later in the day he asked to use the bathroom.  When he didn't come back for a long time, I sent a student to the bathroom to check.  He wasn't there.  I found him in the office.  He had told the secretary he needed to check out and go home.

No sir.

Another student pulled out his tooth and was straight up traumatized by the experience.

Another student had a come apart crying jag because he didn't get to go to the reading room for interventions.  (Sorry kid, you read too well.)

Another student had a come apart crying jag because they had cheese pizza rather than pepperoni for lunch.

About four of them needed bandaids.

I confiscated a paper airplane, a bouncy ball, three water bottles (because they. wouldn't. stop. messing. with. them.)

In the afternoon I don't have anyone to help with the non English speakers.  I type things into google translate on my phone and both boys giggle when I have them listen to it.  Are they giggling because it is nonsensical or are they giggling because the disembodied voice telling them what to do is inherently bizarre to them?

I have no idea.

The new teacher is starting on Thursday.  That won't take the crazy out of third grade but it will reduce it by 12 students.

I.

Will.

Take.

It.

Also, why is teacher capitalized in that meme?  I don't know.  The sentiment is solid though.

Weekending

Friday after school we had six candidates for third grade teacher to interview.  I discovered I don't like interviewing.  I want to hire them all because I know how awful interviewing and being rejected is.

We selected the best candidate for the job though.  We chose the PE teacher.  Janelle and I wanted her because we like her and know she's a good teacher but also because we know the kids already love her and the transition will be easier for them.

I felt lighter knowing help was on the way!

Adam and I went to dinner and stopped by the school to give Miriam (the new teacher) the key to her new classroom.  She was already getting things ready.

Also, because I had a bee in my bonnet about my classroom library, we went to two Walmarts to buy bins to store books.

Two Walmarts on a Friday night shows you we know how to party.

Saturday morning, I hosted a brunch at our house to show appreciation to the ladies who are serving in Relief Society.  The other members of the presidency said they would bring the food if we could have it at our house.

It was a very nice party to prepare for.  All I had to do was set the table, which is my favorite thing anyway.

We had a lovely time.  We laughed a whole lot and a few times eyes welled with tears which is pretty much par for course when you have women together who love each other and talk about real things.

In the afternoon, I picked up Janelle and we went back to the school.  Janelle's car is in the shop so Adam and I got the idea to let her drive the van, which has been parked on the side of our house since Mark left.

Adam said he would clean it out (did I mention Mark had been driving it?) and meet us at the school.  He pulled it into the garage to clean it and then couldn't get it started again.  He couldn't get the battery charged and when he removed his foot from the gas or turned the key to off, it would make a clicking sound like it was trying to start.

I decided it was probably haunted, which seemed like the most likely reason.

Mark thought that it missed him and had lost the will to live since he'd left.

You can see we're very scientific with our diagnosis of car troubles.

Adam and Emma came to the school in Adam's car and we helped Miriam hang bulletin boards and organize stuff.  Everyone was better at cutting the big sheets of paper off the roll than me.  

Miriam said it was because I was short, which was offensive.  I'm not short.

I mean, compared to her and every member of the family I grew up in I am short, but I'm not short.

Miriam played college basketball and is 6'1".  We were chatting about height while she was doing the stapling up top and she said her parents were "really short."  Her dad is 5'10" and her mom is 5'7".  I said, "That's not short!"

No one believes me.

I need shorter friends.

I worked more on my class library and I ended up not happy about it.  I told Adam that the make do part of my personality was warring with the I want it to look good part of my personality and I was losing.

Adam just shakes his head at me at times like that.

Kind of like how Miriam shook her head at me when I said I wasn't short. 

When we got home, Adam tried to deal more with the haunted/missing Mark van.  We had talked to my parents earlier and he'd had my dad weigh in on the mystery.  My dad said, "That's strange."

Then he suggested unhooking and re hooking up the battery connection.  The car version of turning it off and on again, I guess.

It didn't help.  We took the battery to Auto Zone (by we, I mean I held the door open for Adam while he carried that heavy thing).  They said it was dead.  A good diagnosis.  It's not that old of a battery so there is some other trouble. 

I'm not ruling out it is haunted.

Sunday was a migraine day.

We also talked to our kids and I did a little yoga which helped my whole neck, back, headache situation.  Braeden and Anna told us that they both got new church callings, Braeden is a YM advisor and Anna is the second counselor int he YW presidency.  It made me happy thinking of those two serving.  Mark told Braeden an idea for the young men and it was a game that Adam had made up and taught Mark when Adam was his leader.

It is a blessing to our boys that they watched Adam serve so well all those years.

Sunday night we capped off the day with watching a new episode of the Great British Baking Show.  It is pretty much the icing on the cake to any weekend.

Plus it was cake week.

  

Grateful Friday

 1) I went to the dentist, which I was dreading, and everything was fine with my tooth.  That tooth.  The one that has been a problem child.

2) The dentist appointment was at 5:00 for both Adam and me.  We came home to a dinner prepared by Emma.  She said, "I hope it's good."  

I said, "It will be because we didn't have to make it."

And it was good.  Grateful for my grown girl!

3) There's a second grader with a fairly new diabetes diagnosis.  I overheard his mom talking to an aide in the hall and the mom was in tears and really stressed out.  After they were done talking, I went up to her and told her that my son has type 1 diabetes.  Her reaction made me tear up a little.  She seemed so grateful to have someone who could relate.  And I can.  We chatted a minute about all the things.  We walked down the hall and when I got to my classroom, she said, "Wait.  You're a teacher?"

I said yes.  She said, "And you teach 3rd grade?" 

I said yes.  She said, "Oh!  Next year!"

And I felt grateful.  Every time something hard yields an opportunity to have empathy, it feels like a well spent trial.

4) One of my new students has struggled to behave.  He has been AWOL a few times, he fights, he does what he wants.  He doesn't speak English.  Yesterday we had a meeting with his mom.  The secretary was the interpreter and an administrator and I were there with the mom.  While we talked, her sons waited in the office.  Emily poked her head in the door and held up two granola bars and asked the mom, in Spanish, if she could give them to her sons.  

We explained the situation to the mom and she was tearful and grateful and apologetic.  We assured the mom that her son will be fine.  We told her we just needed to communicate so they knew the expectations.  She said that when they were in Mexico he didn't have school for a year and a half.  Where they were was VERY shut down with covid.  Sometimes I wonder how much covid is going to steal from these children.  It is clear that he is very smart.  It is also clear he doesn't remember how to be at school.

And we can work with that.

We talked about some plans and what they could do at home.  We want him to retain his Spanish.  I asked if they had a notebook at home he could write in, in Spanish.  She said, "No.  But I can get one."

I said, "I will give you one."

I went to my classroom and came back with 6 notebooks so he could choose his color.

He picked green and he grinned at me and said, "Thank you!" in his endearing English.

School has felt super hard lately and not nearly as joyful as usual.  Every once in a while though, I remember that I love that school and the way the adults in the building pull together to champion each child.  Every once in a while, I remember how much I love being around children and connecting with them.  And letting them pick their notebook.

Back to school, again

Braeden starting a PhD program is a little head spinning to me.  I can take very little credit for the smart brain that kid naturally possesses but I did teach him to read.  Of everything large and small I have accomplished in life, teaching three little people to read is high on my list.  

He texted this picture yesterday:

Emma commented on the quality of light and said it looked like a Baroque painting.  She said it had a Vermeer quality about it.

I didn't know Vermeer was Baroque.

Emma explained to me the difference between northern Baroque and southern Baroque.

My kids are grown up and know more than me.  That is all.

Because I could, I found this picture of Braeden ten years ago on his first day of high school.

I love Emma's outrageous bedhead and I love the fact that she was up to see him off in her pajamas that used to be one of Adam's referee shirts (Braeden had 6:00 seminary and that was probably the only time she was up that year to see him off).  I love the way he is entertaining her.

That look of joy they are sharing?  That pretty much sums up their relationship.