They Rocked!

Saw the Black Eyed Peas last night (my birthday present). Had seriously high expectations and they exceeded them. The show was unreal! Still high from the fun.

Faces

The First Tooth!

So normally I parent would talk about the first tooth lost, but Haley just got her 1st permanent tooth without losing a tooth! Yes, just like her mom, her first tooth came in behind her baby tooth on the bottom. In fact my top 2 and bottom 2 came in like that. It kind of robbed her of the whole wiggly tooth, tooth fairy thing, but that time will come. It's crazy to think that she should have a little hole in her smile. Now she will have to get it pulled by the dentist. That should be fun.

She's getting bigger all the time.

Mystery Woman

There is a little old woman who I see at the bus stop near our house a few times a week. Every time she is waiting for the bus, she does Tai Chi. I love walking or driving by and seeing this person in such a calm state while waiting for public transit. I smile every time.

GREAT News!

Haley had her 5 year well appointment yesterday. She was born with a hole in heart and we were told by cardiologists that she would be checked again when she was 5 unless there was health concerns earlier. She was checked yesterday and the hole seems to be closed! No sign of it. Hooray!

Worn Down to a Nub

Ugh...work has been gnarly the last week and a half. School has not changed much since we went. You have the same types of kids...overachievers, average Joes, underachievers, class clowns, all around great kids, sensitive kids, overconfident kids, needy kids. The list goes on and on. I realize that the list is long and varied, but most kids come to school and get the job done, some better than others.

There is a small percentage of kids who make the job hard. We remember these students in school. Maybe they were disruptive or sneaky or goofy. I tend to enjoy the challenge of these children. At this point in the year everyone is a bit tired of their antics. These students have very little affect on the big picture, but can be tiresome to deal with at times. The other students are even tired of these kids. Again, this is a small population and usually pretty manageable although exhausting at times.

In the last week and a half I have felt the exhaustion of it. I consider myself a patient person. I think that I have just hit my tilt. I have been patient since they started in August and now I am tired of certain behaviors that have not changed for that handful of students. This frustration has grown exponentially with the added bonus of a parent who doesn't believe any of my "accusations or stories" about her child. "He does not act like this at home or at church, so this couldn't possibly be happening in the classroom." The story is long and the details are many. In my career, I could count these types of interactions with parents on one hand. They are so few and far between, but when they do happen I am so completely baffled by it all. It wears me down. I honestly approached the situation naively. This must be a misunderstanding or the manipulation of the student playing sides. I thought I would clear it up only to be hung up on. NOPE! No misunderstanding here! At first I just wanted to cry. Not solely because of the phone call, but because of all of the effort I had put into this whole thing. I got a sense of calm as I realized that there was nothing to misunderstand. This mom will never believe anything negative about the child no matter what anyone says. Let me add that this is the same mom who accused my teaching partner of physically dragging her son into his seat. Umm...what?! This is also the same student who got a referral a week before mine for sticking his tongue out at his teacher.

As I look at this situation as a parent, and I believed my child was telling the truth, I can think of 100 better ways to approach the situation. The problem with that is that he TOLD me he did the spitballs. It wasn't even a he said, she said.

I feel worn down. I need to be rejuvinated again so that it does not affect the 95% of my kids who are doing what they are supposed to. I don't think it has, but I need to make sure it doesn't.

I find myself saying the serenity prayer..."God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Deep breath in...slowly exhale...

Summer Pics

A friend took some photos of the kids last summer and she is starting her own photography business. If you are interested in her information, her website is shannoncline.com