Just a little irritated

At some point I'm going to get over the smash & grab that occured 2 weeks ago, but probably not until I stop realizing things that have been taken. I think when I first called the police I totaled the value of what was taken at around $300, that was before I realized my Bodybugg, ipod, Fossil watch, day planner, and my newest find: a gift certificate for a pedicure that I was saving for Thanksgiving weekend. Just a little irritated. I know I should be grateful for my wallet and credit cards and phone and camera and checks and cabinet/countertop samples and Coachies that were in the bag that was with me inside the gym, but I can't seem to be satisfied with that. Grrrr!

On another note, said teacher mentioned in the prior post has appeased his/her principal by hosting a meeting with upset parents which turned out to be pointless. Parents did not acknowledge claims made to the principal, nor did they give opportunity for the said teacher to confront them about those rude claims. Said teacher is done with it all.

Hypothetically speaking...

Here's a scenario:

An experienced teacher receives word of one of his/her parents is meeting with their principal about some emotional issues their student has been experiencing at school. Said parent expresses to the principal that they do not like how their child's teacher handled a situation that occured earlier in the year (for argument's sake we'll say this instance happened 10 weeks prior to said meeting). This parent states that they do not believe that their child's teacher has an investment their child's well-being and that this teacher does not care for their child. Also, the parent believes that the teacher does not like them as s/he does not acknowledge their presence on the playground or cafeteria.

*small side note: Rumor has it that parent-teacher conferences were held 4 weeks prior to this meeting and this parent did not mention this belief to the teacher, nor did they discuss with the teacher that they were unhappy with other "events" that had happened earlier in the year. Rumor also has it, that the teacher did express his/her concerns over this particular child's well-being and made suggestions (and followed through with them) that could possibly help this child. At that meeting, the parent agreed that those suggestions would be a good idea.

While the teacher meets with the principal about this meeting, it is mentioned that it is the teacher's job to soothe the parent's hurt feelings and repair this broken relationship between parent and teacher. Afterwards, this teacher is off to pick up their class, see this parent and this child, and conduct business as usual.

After an evening of contemplation, the teacher I am referencing decides to meet again with the principal about this parent and this situation. Their prior discussion led this teacher to believe that s/he had made a mistake with this student/parent/situation and it was their responsibility to fix it. Surely, the emotionally-stretched teacher had misunderstood. S/he has never been accused of mistreating a student and this new accusation weighed heavily on his/her mind. In the second meeting, principal attempts to give the teacher some peace of mind, tells him/her that this parent said that they have heard many good things about the teacher. (Yes, heard, not experienced) The teacher was then told that it was not his/her fault, however it is still their responsibility to fix it. Just like the day before, the teacher must now go pick up their class, see this parent and this child, and conduct business as usual.

Or not. As the teacher enters the playground, this particular student is crying in addition to another student who is physically adamant that they are not leaving mom and is also crying. Please note, this is not the first time this situation has happened in this particular class. Somehow the teacher is able to gently pull the physically upset child into the classroom along with the emotionally upset child and the other 20+ students. It isn't known how, but this teacher somehow makes it through the day without an emotional melt down. Perhaps it was the promise of the weekend so close that provided the extra strength.

Ah, the weekend. In case you didn't know, weekends officially start at the end of the school day for those in the teaching profession and this teacher was in dire need of this weekend.

Unfortunately for this teacher there was one more obstacle to be overcome. Fulfilling a promise to a friend, this person went to the gym. "Good for them!" you say, "let out some of that pent up emotion!" Normally I would agree, however at the end of the workout this person walks to their car to find a smashed window. Nowhere to be seen was their ipod, sun glasses, bag of clothes, teacher bag (yes, all teachers take bags of things to do home), and their beloved Dave CD's.

Too much. It was too much. The emotional meltdown could no longer wait. So there, in the gym parking lot a good cry was had. (Yes, a police report was filed)

The conclusion: Can you blame the "hypothetical" teacher who has had these "hypothetical" experiences for not wanting to go to school tomorrow?

A total bust

The "Sing-a-long Saturday" thing that is. Seriously, one person comments and it wasn't even the person the post was directed to. How sad is that? Much love to Jenny for reminding me that people do read my blog, I truly love yur guts. As for the rest of you, sorry I inflicted my favorite Live song upon you. Needless to say, it's going to be a long while before you see another sing-a-long, if ever again. I can take a hint...

In other news, I'm thinking I may try to write a post soon. I'm not making any promises, but I feel as though the creativity in my brain is about to bubble over.

Katie's Sing-a-long Saturday

I've seen the "Monday Madness" posts and "Flashback Friday" posts and all the other special alliteration posts associated with the days of the week and I've joined the ranks. Nothing really special, but I'm sharing one of my favorite songs because I do just love it and felt like sharing. I don't know how regular this kind of post will be, but when I share a song I'll likely rattle of a story and why I like it

This one goes out to my cuz Holly.

The story:
12 or 13 years ago my sisters and I went with my mom to visit some family. Just a random night, nothing special about it to my knowledge, just a visit. Maybe dinner? Anyways, Holly is going to run to the store and I, being desperate to spark a friendship with just one of many uber-cool cousins, volunteer to go with her. I want to say it was the suburban? Must have been pre-Rabbit, I loved her Rabbit (Holly, it was you with the Rabbit, right?), but that's not where I'm going with the story. This song, today's sing-a-long song, is playing. I remember it being really loud and that she played it over and over on the way to the store and back. It was an instant favorite of mine. Did I ask her what the song was called? No, that would have made sense. Instead, I went to Circuit City (back when they were open and let you open CD's to listen to them before you bought them) to find the CD with this song. I was having a rough go of it. Finally I went up to the girl working there to get some help. How did I get this help? I had to sing it for her. Bless my amazing abilities to sing, she knew just what it was.
Why this song sticks out as one of my favorites? Uber-cool cousin Holly liked it and I the story of how I came to find it.
It's been years, but I still love this song and crank the volume (because that's how it's best heard) and when it randomly pops up on my ipod, I listen to it twice.
Without further ado, crank the volume and press play!

Comment, who else loves it?

Ready, set, cut!

Every year at this time I get to feeling disappointed in my hair. Usually I bust out the scissors promptly after school pictures (seriously, 3 years now), but I think I need it cut before pictures this year. I desperately want long hair, but I know in my heart of hearts that I don't look amazing with long hair. :( We're going to take a mini-poll of all 3 readers of my blog. Do I cut it? Something like this I think (it's not so different from my usual cut):
Or endure the awkward stage I'm at and cut after September 9th? You have...a week. Help.

*Thanks to Katie A. for the picture.

One more thing

I didn't go to the casting call on Thursday. Basically I am a giant chicken and didn't want to go by myself. Sadly, the friend who would have gone with me was unavailable (you're supposed to read into that that there were friends who adamantly refused to go).
I'm going to have to think of another way to introduce myself to those bachelors...

The silver lining

It's been a long two weeks. The training is hard. I have to teach procedures and rules. There are lines to straighten, pencil grips to fix, and oh, the paper snow from crazy cutting. My newbies are definitely coming along though. The tears were officially gone Friday. No one tried to make an escape from the cage, no one begged me to stay for lunch, and no one told me they missed their mom. Things are looking up, but it's been a LONG two weeks and I am missing my voice to prove it. But let me tell you why it's taking a toll:
*NO aides
*NO recesses (inside does not count)
but most importantly...
*NO Emily, Ishani, Ava, Molly, Mark, Jack, Brock, Payton, Ryan, Sophie, Tyler, Shane, Talmage, Keely, Cassidy, Mia, Colby, Bella, Kendall, Rebekah, Austen, Nicholas, Malia, Jakey, or Bryan.
Yes, I miss my last year's kiddos. :( It's the saddest thing to see them in the hall and know that they are having such a great time in 1st grade, to know that they are AmAzInG and that they are not being appreciated by their new teachers (come on, no one knows all the work we put in in kindergarten).
Mostly I'm getting over it, adjusting, but Friday I had a brief conversation with one of MY 1st graders that brought a tear to my eye. As I was taking my kids to P.E. I see a line of 1st graders and of course I had to say hi. One of mine was the line leader and as she gives me a hug she told me that she had a dream about me. I asked her if it was a good dream or a bad dream and she said it was her first good dream because I was in it.
Seriously, I was verkelmpt, choked with emotion. It made my day and destroyed it all at the same time.
I'm sure she meant it was good because I was in it (naturally ;) and it was the first dream that she'd ever had with me in it, but I'm going to ignore that because I am happy to believe that it was the best dream she's ever had because of me.

Don't burst my bubble.