We survived it

Yesterday was...a day.  I don't even know.

I had traffic duty and then a parent waylaid me in the office to find out about the field trip and then another person stopped me and then my student whose birthday it is wanted to walk and talk with me and all the while I was wading through people to get to my classroom.  

Matt was there when I got there and said, "There are kids outside."

I said, "I'm coming!"

(They aren't going to die if they wait three minutes outside.)

The kids were all keyed up and one student threw a tantrum because of their field trip group.  (Also threw their desk.)

We got everyone sorted and got the lunches sorted and went for the buses and someone forgot her jacket, so I had Miriam watch my class and we went back for it.

It was 9:00 AM and I was already looking for my serenity!

We got to the field trip, at the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point.  They always love it and everyone behaved pretty well.

In with the butterflies, one of my boys said he wanted to leave.  His tone of voice told me that he was terrified.  I took him outside the enclosure and a few more students wanted to go too, so we watched through the window.

Three of them decided after a while to go back, but my little buddy stayed with me and flinched every time a butterfly came close to the window.

We finally got everyone gathered up when it was time to go and we headed to a park.  They had to eat before we let them play.  One of my students had two full-size Hostess cupcakes, a sleeve of powdered donuts and a quart-size bag bulging with candy for lunch.  He had two large sugary drinks to wash it all down.  I had already eaten my sandwich, but I gave him my orange, which he happily took.  (I offered to peel it.  Even still, my children are more inclined to eat an orange if I will peel it.  He wanted me to peel it.)  His lunch explains a whole lot.

It's a new big park in Lehi and it was a lot of fun.  And fraught with injuries.  Kids were crying and limping right and left and it was up to us to parse out who was actually hurt.

One kid had hit his head and was bleeding and an enthusiastic chaperone went to her car and had some  bandages she wanted to stick on his head, which would have stuck in his hair.  I vetoed that.  I had him sit by me for a few minutes and then he was good to go again.

At the end, one of Miriam's students was wailing because she had lost her glasses.  Alissa and I both wear glasses and we sent out students back into the playground to find them.

Miriam stood there nonchalantly waiting for us.

Finally we decided if she didn't care, we wouldn't either.  We gathered everyone up again and the glasses were on the bus all along.

One of my girls wanted to sit by me on the bus, both on the way and on the way back.  We chatted about Halloween and scary movies and her brother (who used to be my student) and her primary program.

She was quiet, looking out the window, as we drove back to the school.  She suddenly turned to me and asked, "How do people who paint His picture know what Jesus looks like?"

I said that was a good question and I think they made their best guess.

She said, "Hmm, OK."

The minute we got back to the school and everyone needed to use the bathroom and get a drink, we were supposed to go to the 1st grade Halloween program.  We hightailed it to the gym for the program and then back to class to celebrate the birthday in the few minutes before school was out.

In our haste, there was a kerfuffle in the line behind me that I didn't see and I had to go to the office after school and identify just who shoved who.  Luckily no one was badly hurt.  

A fifth grade teacher happened to be in the office while I was watching and gasped at them shoving each other to the ground.  I said, "Lucky you!  You'll get them in two years."

She said, "I'll retire by then."

I told her nice try, but she was too young.

When it was all said and done, I just wanted a nap, but we had to plan next week and realign our literacy groups and I had to meet with Matt to go over my observation.

Mondays.  I'm telling you.  I felt dysregulated when I got home, but we had YEN and YEN is fun.  We ate a delicious dinner (it's always delicious) and played a few games that no one really cared too much about winning, but were fun.  We dabbled in political talk, but not too far.  We mentioned our children, but not too much.  We mostly just talked and it was just the antidote I needed for my day.