Finally Over

My goodness it has been a long week.

The first few days was a mad rush to finish final rotational grades for report cards and get them printed and safely stashed on the server for perpetuity. And trying to accomplish everything on the to do list with more missing prep. Grrr.

Then one of my students called me the F-bomb again, which is really not okay in a classroom, and was suspended for the second time in a month. I don't know how to help this child. Everything I try to do to help her just provokes anger. So I am waiting for a meeting with the parent before she can come back. The waiting make me stressed. And the sadness in not being able to reach this students makes me miserable.

Fi was complaining of a sore tummy all day Thursday. I was very worried when she dashed across the hall at 3:25 (her classroom is across from mine - very cool, sometimes I can wave at her working while I teach - how lucky am I?) clutching her hand over her mouth, eyes bulging. I grabbed a garbage can, but nothing happened. So we persevered.

That night it was Parent-Teacher Conferences. They were a resounding success with the highest parent attendance in years (for the elementary wing at least). However, since all our normal colleague-babysitters were working, we had no childcare. So we dragged our poor Little People with us from 5-8. This was not bad for Fi, as she is often curled up in bed reading quietly until almost 8 anyway. But Jo is usually asleep by 7:00. He was racing up and down the halls by 7:15 shouting out for my boys to come and play with him. Nice to know that he feels at home, but not exactly conducive to productive meetings with parents.

LK stayed home with the very overtired and somewhat sick Little People yesterday. It was not the least bit relaxing or fun for him, and when I called at noon he wished that he was at school. "They are at each other's throats," he moaned. I clucked in sympathy and was thankful that it was his turn to be at home. My Little People are not very good patients unless they are really sick. When they are just feeling miserable, they take it out on each other.

Fi waited to barf until today. In the car. Halfway to town. Fortunately, she warned us and LK pulled over just in time. Unfortunately she only got halfway out of the car. Fortunately she missed the car completely due to the projectile style of this barf. Unfortunately I was right in the line of fire and got covered shoulders to knees. YUCK! Fortunately we had water and wipes and could keep trucking - with the windows open. And, I got a new outfit out of it.

So, this week is finally over. I thank God for that. I am praying that next week is just a bit quieter and more peaceful. If not, I will need a double dose of grace poured out to handle it all.