The Worst Thing about Teaching

At varying times during my almost ten years of teaching, I would have said one of these was the worst thing about teaching:

• dealing with unreasonable parents
• not being able to have a real lunch break and get out of the building
• having to do twice the amount of work to be gone instead of just being gone like normal people
• PAPERWORK
•  knowing what a kid needs but not being able to give it to him because of time, space, lack of programs, etc.

But the worst thing about teaching is not on this list. The worst thing about teaching is saying goodbye.

I said goodbye to #1 at the end of my second year. She had taken me under her wing when I started, which was in the middle of the school year. I had no idea what I was doing, and she kindly and gently guided me through the grade book system, the attendance program, the SIT process, how to be a contributing member of a team, etc. She was the one who ran our team. When she left, I was sad and apprehensive about her replacement.

I said goodbye to #2 three years later. She was kind, quiet, sweet, organized (almost to a fault) and dependable. She was the one in team meeting with impeccable notes. worked hard, loved kids, and was a very good teacher. It was hard to see her go, and again, I was apprehensive about the new teacher coming in.

#3, which happened two yeas after that, was rough. He was my team content teacher - he taught Language Arts, I taught reading. We collaborated many times throughout the year. He was the one who kept the mood light on our team, constantly coming up with double meanings to words and phrases (example: "I'll PLC you later," accompanied by a cheesy grin and a finger point). I knew when he left it was going to be hard. Indeed, on his last day I remember delaying coming back to the pod and hoping he had left already. He hadn't. He had waited for me to say goodbye. I remember crying when he hugged me, crying when I watched him walk out the front door, and crying all the way home.

When I really think about #4, it's hard not to tear up, even though it's been more than two years since she left. At first I didn't think we'd ever be friends, but by the time she was ready to move on, I counted (and still count) her among my very best of friends. She was good with kids, good with content, and great as a team player. She had good ideas, a good memory, and a great knack for keeping us on track and productive in team. I often found myself in her room during plan time and we ate lunch together almost every day. When I realized that her leaving was a possibility, I remember feeling sick at my stomach. Indeed, our math teacher told me, "I feel like I should get her a congratulations card and you a sympathy card." That is exactly how it felt. I knew she was doing the right thing for her, and that probably should have made things easier, but it didn't. I remember walking down to her room on the last day and hugging her. We both cried and then took this walk of sorrow down the hall and out the door. I sobbed the whole way home and for the several days. And I still miss her CONSTANTLY.

I'm not sure how to talk about #5. #5 is a rarity among teachers. A 32 year long teaching career. Been in the district forever and been in the building since it was built. Seen generations of kids come through (including mine). Knows the name of every staff member, including the night custodians, past and present. Knows every person in town and their grandma and their dog's name. As a team member, he was our encourager. He wrote little notes and put them in our boxes. He would send emails constantly telling us what great jobs we were doing. One time he felt bad about a comment he made so he brought me donuts the next morning. He brought our kids gifts at Christmas and sometimes would just swing by the house to check on us. His enthusiasm was constant. He noticed things about kids that we would have never picked up on. He kept EVERYTHING, so we could always ask for the schedule we used last year, or the order we used for the PR party, or whatever. He was always telling kids that this was going to be their best year ever. He was always telling kids that today was going to be their best DAY ever. And kids believed him. He made kids feel like they were important, like they were good, like they could do anything. As has become my habit, I put off my goodbye until I was ready to leave. I started bawling before I even left my classroom. By the time I made it to his, I was in full-fledged break-down-sobbing mode. He hugged me, told me what a great teacher and mom I was, and told me that next year is going to be the best year ever.

Isn't there some sort of principle that says things get easier each time you do it? It definitely doesn't apply to losing co-workers. And co-workers isn't the right phrase. It's like losing a hand, or an arm, better yet. The older I get and the more people with whom I work, the more I find that having people you love and trust working with you in your efforts to do what is best for kids is a rarity. A luxury. The best place to be. Every person on this list has gone on to do greater things in their lives. Things that were right for them, their families, and their careers. I am happy for them and their successes, as they have all been and will continue to be wonderful in their new jobs.

But this is most definitely the worst thing about teaching.

Summer Fun

It's hard to believe it's been summer for four weeks already! We have had some great fun already. Here are the last four weeks in pictures:

Memories of my Parents

As I mentioned, we threw a party for my parents for their 60th birthdays/40th wedding anniversary. In lieu of gifts, we asked guests to bring written/typed memories of our parents to be included in a book they would be taking with them on their trip to Alaska, for which they leave tomorrow. Obviously, I have a million memories form which to choose. But I decided to choose one for my dad, one for my mom, and one for both of them together. And I went with the first one that popped into my head.

Can we have a moment for how all of the children are looking at the camera AT THE SAME TIME?

Dad first.

I don't remember why we were so obsessed with this song, but "Hip to Be Square" by Huey Lewis was THE COOLEST song when we were kids. Mom wasn't really a fan, but whenever she was not in the truck and it was just Dad, Alex, and me, Dad would put the tape in the tape player and we would BLARE it as we drove. And then when it was over, we would do it again. We would sing at the top of our lungs, dance as best we could in our seat belts, and If it was a nice day, we would roll the windows down and let everyone else listen to this coolest of songs. (And if you don't know it for some reason, do yourself a favor and click here.)

For Mom, I can't decide if this is a specific memory or the same memory over and over again, but I remember waiting for her to get home. Dad usually did pickup because she had to work until 5. I remember I couldn't wait for her to get home, so much so that I would wait by the stairs. When she came home, I would run to her and hug her around the waist. I remember she had this one brown dress that she wore a gold belt with and when I would hug her I would have to work around the belt. I remember her smell. She wasn't a perfume wearer because she was allergic, but she somehow still smelled like flowers.

When I was five, we went to Galveston, Texas, which was my first trip to the beach. I remember my parents playing in the sand with us, and then someone (I'm pretty sure it was Mom) suggested we bury Dad's leg in the sand. It was the coolest thing EVER. Somewhere there is a picture and I wish I had it to include with this post.

My parents are the best. They love God, love each other, and love us. They have been great examples of a life lived well and right. I love that I got to watch them as I grew up and that now, Charlie and Lucy get to watch them as they grow up.

Blessings abound through these two wonderful gifts God gave me!

How to Throw a Surprise 60th Birthday/40th Anniversary Party

Step 1: Start WAY ahead of time.

We knew 2015 was going to be a huge year for our parents. Dad was turning 60 in January, Mom was turning 60 in May, and their 40th wedding anniversary was in August. We knew we had to do something but we really didn't want to try to come up with ways to celebrate each of these. So instead, we combined them all. We came up with a date, and then in January, we sent out this letter as a Save-the-Date:

Step 2: Send out invitations at least 6 weeks before.

We ordered these and mailed them out the first week of May. We asked for RSVPs, but we really didn't need to. We already knew we were hosting it at the church and we were keeping food minimal.

Step 3: Ask your seriously talented sister-in-law to handle the decorations.

I mean, need I say more?

Step 4: Go small with the food.
My mother can't have sugar and my sister-in-law can't have gluten, so we went simple with the food. We made sherbert/Sprite punch, bought mixed nuts, made those delicious cream cheese mint things, and ordered cupcakes. **TIP: remember that adults don't eat cupcakes like kids do. It's not necessary to order one for every person you expect.**

Step 5: Go for meaningful gifts, not pricy ones.
Instead of gifts, we recommended guests bring written memories of our parents. When we left, I had a huge bag full of them. Since my parents leave later this week for their trip, I told them they had to wait until they started their trip to read them. I put them all in plastic sleeves in a binder. It was really special to read through them, particularly the ones from my great-aunt, who took the time to go through all her records (she saves EVERYTHING) and copy letters my dad wrote to his grandparents in school, newspaper clippings of his sports games and awards, programs form his college games, and pictures of them and of us when we were little.

These are going to mean so much more to them than gifts.

I had lunch with my mom today and she thanked me again for all the work we did. I know it meant a lot to her (and to my dad, who we actually let in on the secret, mainly because we needed his help and we know how he hates surprises). It was a great party with a great turnout!

Bulk Chicken

I tried a new thing this summer - bulk chicken!

I hate to buy meat at the grocery store. It's full of dilemmas. I know the organic, range-fed is best, but do I want to sacrifice that much of my grocery budget on meat that will only feed us for one meal? Or should I settle for the cheaper meat that I know isn't as good for us? How fresh is this? How were the animals who provided it fed? How fresh is this meat? Etc, etc. Frankly, it's exhausting.

We have now twice bought a quarter of a cow. It was a lot of money up front, but we had roasts, steaks, and ground beef in the freezer. It was nice. However, what we found was that we don't eat much ground beef. Tacos is really the only thing we eat on a semi-regular basis that requires ground beef. What we REALLY needed was a freezer full of chicken. I use whole chickens for almost everything, but sometimes I do have to buy chicken breasts at the store. It would be really nice to have lots of those on hand.

So when a friend posted about Zaycon on Facebook, I was interested. I read that I could get 40 lbs of hormone-free, range fed minimally processed chicken breasts for $60. That sounded like a pretty good deal. So I ordered.

"Pick up" was Thursday, June 4th. I received an email reminder the week before and a text message the morning of, reminding me that my pickup time was scheduled for 12:30-1 PM. I also got a text at about 12:15 saying the driver was early. So I headed over to the pickup location...a bowling alley near my house. Strange, but, okay.

Zaycon IMMEDIATELY scored points because I DID NOT HAVE TO GET OUT OF MY CAR. You can see the truck and the line of cars in the picture above. I waited in line, the guy checked my name on a clipboard, and I got my chicken!

I got home, put the kids down for naps, and immediately got ready to start trimming. I lysoled every surface, washed my hands really well, and set to work. There were 16 of these "butterflies" as they are called. I don't know if you can appreciate the size from this picture, but they were SO BIG!

I had watched several Youtube videos on the best ways to trim and divide chicken, so I decided to divide the breasts into cutlets, tenderloins, and breasts. Most of the time, after I had the cutlet and tenderloin separated, I had to cut the breast in half because they were so big! It took me an hour and a half, but by the time I was done, I had 56 breasts, a gallon bag of tenderloins, 2 gallon bags of cutlets, and a quart bag of cuts perfect for chicken fried chicken (which is one of Rick's favorite meals). Throughout the next few days I made up several freezer meals for friends having babies and some for us to just have in the freezer.

We have grilled several times and really enjoyed this delicious chicken. I think this is something I'll definitely be doing again! If you are interested, click here. If you order, I get $5 off my next order! :)

New Thing: Furniture Assembly

I've been losing an organizational battle with this particular piece of furniture in my dining room. It has become a catch-all for all things kid and craft related. It holds coloring books, markers, glue, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, crayons, puzzles, McDonald's toys, you name it, it's in this stupid shelf/cabinet thing. I SO wish I had taken a before picture.

Enter IKEA. It is quite possible that IKEA is my favorite. (I was going to say store, but I don't feel like that is enough. I was going to say place on earth, but I think that might be a little much. So it's somewhere in between.)

We had purchased this shelf at IKEA for our son's room and loved it. So I asked Rick if he could swing by on the way home from work one day and pick another one up. He did, but he didn't have time to assemble that night, and as you can see from the photo above, assembly is required. I tend to default to Rick for all things assembly-related, but I was itching to get started, so the next morning, I rolled up my sleeves.

I started at 8:15, and by 10:15, viola!

I had intended for it to go into the corner vertically, but once I had it assembled, I realized how much more beneficial a horizontal placement would be. For one thing, the top would provide storage and for another, both kids could easily access every drawer. Win win!

The big job was organizing everything into the cubbies and drawers. I ended up taking all the outdoor things (bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc) and putting them in a basket to be kept in the entryway closet, and I think I threw a few things out, but everything else was neatly arranged onto shelves or into drawers. The front of the drawers are smooth, white plastic, so I grabbed a dry-erase marker (from the newly organized "Art Supplies" drawer) and labeled them. There was even enough room for a "Mommy's Stuff" drawer!

Since this picture was taken, I have secured two turn-in-type trays from the dollar store and placed them on top. Whenever one of the kids finishes an art project, instead of it floating around for a week until it inevitably ends up in the recycle bin, it goes in the tray. One of my best ideas!