The Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.

This has just been an long, awful week. It started out ok, but went quickly downhill. Here's an overview of what went on:

-Monday: No school for MLK Jr Day.

-Tuesday: More drama at work with the staff. Fed a child fish sticks (which he turned out to be allergic to). Fixed mistake in the child's file to acknowledge allergy. Got home to see that furnace was not working, again.

-Wednesday: Had to drive home (half an hour) on lunch break to let furnace repair guy in. Repair guy couldn't get furnace to work. Found out that parts needed were very expensive, and it was recommended we purchase a new furnace. Discovered that new furnace costs $2000.00.

-Thursday: Field trip at school...more drama with staff. Called around about furnace.

-Friday: Attended boring in-service for work. Paid $2000.00 for new furnace. Scheduled installation for next available date (Tuesday).


Just so you know, the child with the fish allergy is ok. His mom was very [understandably] upset, but is no longer threatening to sue me, which is good! The whole thing scared me to death. I'm now determined to go through the rest of the kids' files to make sure there are no other allergies that the health people forgot to enter in the computer system!

As for the furnace, that is just so annoying. To have to replace something that big four months after buying a house. But the gas wasn't turned on during our inspection, so the inspector was unable to tell us if the furnace was working, only that it was installed properly. I guess this is the joy of home ownership! I'm trying to be more appreciative of the fact that we can even afford to pay to get a new furnace. We have also been blessed that it's been a warmer week, with the temperature reaching 50 degrees, as opposed to the week before, where the temperature was in the single digits. I just hope it holds out a little longer, so the pipes don't freeze!

Anyway, I'm sure things will get better from here!

I'm bringing balloons...

I've really enjoyed the long weekend and, even better, I got a lot done....laundry, cleaning, dress shopping, research, etc. Tomorrow it's back to school though! We're going to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. and why he is important. I'm not sure that my students (who are three, four, and five years old) can really understand the subject matter, but we're going to try! I've already introduced the kids to MLK a little, and showed them his picture. I explained that we celebrate him each year on the third Monday of the month, near his birthday (Jan 15) and that we would not have school on that day. One of the children, a little boy named Landen, became very concerned:

L: Miss Christin, if we don't have school on Monday, who will blow up him's balloons?
(His little face was filled with worry)

Me: Well...

L: Ok, ok, I know. You can bring the balloons. Miss Laura will bake him a cake. And I will bring him's present!


The innocence and creativity of children continually surprises me. Of course to them, the logical way to celebrate some one's birthday is to have a party, with balloons, cake, and presents. So, I suppose that tomorrow we will sing Happy Birthday to Dr. King, because this is something the kids can relate to. For little Landen to be so concerned about the birthday party of a man that he doesn't even know is so sweet.

I have a simple picture book telling the story of Dr. King's life that I will be reading to the children. I'm a little concerned about how the kids will react to the fact that MLK was killed, but I think we can address it and calm the fears of anyone who gets upset.

It will also be interesting to mention that there are very, very few African Americans in the town that I work in. Actually, someone told me they only removed the KKK stuff from the downtown square a few years ago. It was just a known fact that blacks could not live in that county. I have never lived in a place that was less diverse, and where people are so narrow-minded. Even some of the people I work with have very skewed views of the world, because these small towns are all they know! Here in Mount Vernon things are a little better, but still, this is unlike anywhere I've ever lived. And I don't like it.

How am I supposed to teach these children to appreciate diversity when they don't even see people who are different from them? Educating them about different races and cultures only goes so far....I think you have to really experience diversity to truly learn to appreciate it. But I will do the best I can.

A Rock N Roll Dream

Last night Jason and I went to see AC/DC in concert in St. Louis. When we got there, it was freezing! We had to walk a few blocks from our parking spot, so I was pretty much numb when we got inside. The concert was great...AC/DC sounded just as good live as they do on their CD's. They were entertaining...it was amazing to see them constantly running around, jumping, and dancing. Angus stripped down to his boxers naturally (which was funny, and slightly horrific at the same time) as well as performing all his signature dance moves.

I really think he should consider getting rid of the shorts...the legs just aren't pretty these days. There were tons of guys dressed like him...I felt sorry for them outside in the cold (well, and inside too)!

I have to admit, I wasn't sure how the concert would be. I was having a flashback to seeing Styx in El Paso, ha ha! I wasn't too excited about going on a Tuesday night either. We were in bed by 1:00, in time for me to wake up at 5:15 for work today. Needless to say, the morning was a little rough. But it was totally worth it...I mean how many chances will a person get to see AC/DC live???!! And I got these cool horns:

Yeah, I rocked those babies!

Take a Hint from Thumper

I just want to get this off my chest...sometimes people just drive me crazy. Why are there so many people who have absolutely ZERO tact? Did no one feel the need to teach them some simple manners? At the very least, they have probably seen Bambi..."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." But people continue to just spit out the first thought that comes to their minds.

Maybe this is not something I should complain about, but I am sick of people commenting on my weight all the time. Seriously, EVERY day at work, someone makes a comment about it. "You need to eat girl! Get some meat on those bones!" or "Christin is just as skinny as a rail!" Now, everyone at work is on a diet. We went out to lunch on Monday, and someone actually made the comment, "Oh, I know I did pretty good at lunch when I ate less than Christin!" Then, they follow up their comments with, "Just wait until you've worked here for a while. You'll start putting on the pounds."

You know, I am thin. But I am at a normal weight for my height. I am blessed to be able to eat pretty much what I want at this point, and maintain my weight. I am not foolish enough to think that this will last forever, which is why I do try to exercise (despite my lack of coordination and balance). But just because I'm thin doesn't mean I want people to comment on it constantly. I find it very embarrassing and unnecessary. Why should anyone feel they have the right to comment on someone's body? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a good-natured comment from my friends, or my family, but these ladies at work haven't known me very long, and I don't really feel like they're making these remarks to make me feel good or to help me in any way. Does that make sense?

I just try to ignore it all....I hate confrontation, and I don't want to say anything about this. Especially since I know everyone will talk about it later. I've applied for some teaching positions at a public school in a different town for next year, so I'm hoping that I won't be working at Head Start again. I want to be in a "real" school, where I am the only teacher in the classroom. I hope I at least get an interview this time!

I will miss my kids though...

We have the creepy-crawlies!

So, this first week back to work has been a long one, to say the least. The kids are so hyper! They just want to run and scream....very annoying. And for some reason they think it's OK now to dump toys on the floor and just walk away. It takes a lot to really annoy me, but these children are finding a way to do it!

On a better note, I have implemented a few changes in the classroom...adding more literacy activities, and some more math. I'm really pleased with the results. The kids have actually seemed to be paying attention to what we're doing, and participating. Maybe what we were doing before was too easy. Whatever it is, it's working. I stole my friend Danielle's idea of the News of the Day, which is just a child telling me something they did the day before, and me turning it into a sentence that I write while the children watch. Yesterday it was, "Aaron had a dream about fire." The kids loved it! It continues to amaze me how the simplest things can teach children so much. Now the kids can count the number of words in a sentence, tell when a word ends and another begins, what type of punctuation is at the end of a sentence, and they know that they can write anything they can say.

Today started out with a bang when we discovered a little boy had head lice during the first five minutes of class. Laura (my asst. teacher) had me catch one of the lice on a piece of tape to give to the mother, I guess to prove that there really were bugs?? I didn't really get that...I don't think I would want a bug stuck in tape if that were my child. But hey, that's just a personal opinion I guess. Luckily, we sent him right home and we haven't discovered any other cases [yet]. I'm sure it's just a matter of time...

I do love being a teacher...and I keep telling myself that while I stand in the middle of a room full of 17 children running and screaming and rolling on the floor...

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Today was my first day back at work since the [wonderful] Christmas break. I'm very blessed in that this was a teacher work day, leaving me free of children to prepare for the upcoming week/month. It was good to be back and feel like I have things under control...the room is rearranged in a new, (hopefully) more efficient layout, the January newsletter and calendar are complete, along with my lesson plans for the week, and I got rid of that cardboard Pilgrim cabin we made for Thanksgiving. Whew! What a relief!

Even better, the staff seems to be getting along well so far. Everyone was friendly and cheerful, visiting about everything that happened during the holidays. I hope that that can continue. I really did not foresee having to manage other adults in my classroom; it's just not something I enjoy dealing with, especially when those adults can't seem to get it together. But this is a new year and a new beginning...I'm going to work towards making the rest of the year a much more positive environment for everyone.

We should be having a fun week...learning about winter and snow...we're even "making" frost in a science experiment. I just hope that the children cooperate. I'm expecting that we'll basically be starting from scratch like it's the beginning of the school year with the kids. Christmas will have destroyed what routine we have established. But hey, that may be a good thing now that I have more of an idea of what I want from the kids. I can be consistent from the start. Still, tomorrow is going to be a long day...

Reflecting on the Holidays

Sorry there have been no updates for a while...the holidays kept Jason and me hopping from one thing to the next!


On Christmas Eve, Jason had to work for a few hours, so we got up early to open our presents to each other. Jason bought me a lovely necklace...I think you'll see why I like it so much!

I got Jason a GPS. I got it several weeks before Christmas, and put it under the tree as soon as it was wrapped. Jason picked up the box to examine it and immediately guessed it was a phone. He waited a few seconds and then said, "No, wait, it's a GPS!" I was super disappointed that he guessed right away, and he was very cocky because he has some weird ability to correctly guess gifts. I decided to see if I could take him down a notch. Sooooo.....

I found a box almost exactly the same size as the GPS box and packed a nose hair trimmer in it, along with some rolls of pennies for weight. I then unwrapped the GPS very carefully, and rewrapped the paper around the new box. Then I wrapped the GPS inside a larger box and hid it at the back of the tree. Here's Jason when he opened it....

I wish I had got a picture of the look of total confusion on his face that came before this (when he saw the pink Precious Moments box the nose hair trimmer was in!) After I stopped laughing, I let him open the real GPS.

Oh, and yes, we did dress Edgar in a Christmas sweater for all the festivities!





After Jason got off work, we drove back to Missouri for a few days and celebrated Christmas with our families. We had a wonderful time (except for the last night we were there, when we came down with some sort of flu virus and spent the night making trips to the bathroom). Our New Year's Eve was laid back...we just stayed home and watched TV. I had a very relaxing break overall (most of my free time was spent reading....I finished the whole Twilight saga! I could not put the books down! I went right from one book to the next until I read them all. I saw Jason shaking his head a lot at my Teen Fiction Nonsense!!!) I guess it's time for me to leave the world of vampires though, since tomorrow it's back to work...